how do i write a baking business plan

Bakery Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Business Plan Outline

• Bakery Business Plan Home
• 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Company Overview
• 3. Industry Analysis
• 4. Customer Analysis
• 5. Competitive Analysis
• 6. Marketing Plan
• 7. Operations Plan
• 8. Management Team
• 9. Financial Plan

Bakery Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your bakery’s business plan.

We have helped over 100,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their bakeries.

A bakery business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your bakery. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan, and details your financial projections.

How To Write a Bakery Business Plan & Sample

The following information will provide a description of what to include in your bakery business plan along with links to an example for that section:

• Executive Summary – The Executive Summary section provides a high-level overview of your plan. It should include your company’s mission statement, as well as information on the products or services you offer, your target market, and your business goals and objectives.
• Company Overview – The Company Overview section provides an in-depth look at your company, including information on your company’s history, ownership structure, bakery location, and management team.
• Industry Analysis – Also called the Market Analysis, in this section, you will provide an overview of the industry in which your bakery will operate. You will discuss trends affecting the industry, as well as your target market’s needs and buying habits.
• Customer Analysis – In this section, you will describe your target market and explain how you intend to reach them. You will also provide information on your customers’ needs and buying habits.
• Competitive Analysis – This section will provide an overview of your competition, including their strengths and weaknesses. It will also discuss your competitive advantage and how you intend to differentiate your bakery from the competition.
• Marketing Plan – In the Marketing Plan section, you will detail your marketing strategy, including your advertising and promotion plans. You will also discuss your pricing strategy and how you intend to position your bakery in the market.
• Operations Plan – In the Operations Plan, you will provide an overview of your store’s operations, including your store layout, staff, and inventory management. It also includes information on your warehousing and distribution arrangements and a list of long-term milestones or business goals.
• Management Team – In this section, you will provide information on yourself as the talented baker, your team, your experience, and your roles in the company.
• Financial Plan – In this section of your bakery financial plan, you will include your financial statements: income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. It also includes information on how much funding you require and the use of these funds.

Next Section: Executive Summary >

Bakery Business Plan FAQs

How can i complete my bakery business plan quickly & easily.

Learn more about writing a successful plan by using this bakery business plan template .

Where Can I Download a Bakery Business Plan Template?

Get a downloadable bakery business plan template here . 

What Are the Main Types of Bakeries?

A bakery can be retail or wholesale. A retail bakery sells baked goods directly to customers, while a wholesale bakery typically sells products to other businesses, like restaurants, grocery stores, specialty shops, and cafes.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Bakery?

Bakeries are most commonly funded with personal savings and bank loans. Credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding for bakeries.

Learn More:  Seeking Funding from Angel Investors vs Venture Capitalists

What Are the Main Sources of Revenues and Expenses for a Bakery?

The primary source of revenue for bakeries is its baked good sales. This includes deliveries and online orders. Sometimes bakeries also earn from bulk orders from wholesalers or special occasions.

The key expenses for bakeries are rent, wages and salaries, ingredients and packaging.

What are the Steps To Open a Bakery Business?

Opening a bakery business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to open a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop A Bakery Business Plan - The first step in opening a business is to create a detailed bakery business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast.  

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your bakery business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your bakery business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Bakery Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your bakery business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws. 

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to open your bakery business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms. 

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations. 

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events. 

7. Acquire Necessary Bakery Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your bakery business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation. 

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your bakery business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

Learn more about how to start a successful bakery business:

• How to Open a Bakery Business

Where Can I Get a Bakery Business Plan PDF?

You can download our free bakery business plan template PDF here . This is a sample bakery business plan template you can use in PDF format.

BUSINESS STRATEGIES

How to create a bakery business plan

• Annabelle Amery
• Oct 29, 2023
• 12 min read

When launching your bakery business , the first step is to whip up a detailed and well-crafted business plan. Think of it as the secret recipe for your bakery's success. This document isn't just a list of ingredients; it's your roadmap to achieving your goals, whether you're baking artisanal bread, delightful pastries or delectable cakes. Your bakery business plan will help you navigate the sweet and savory challenges of the industry, ensuring your path to success is as delightful as your treats.

So if you're looking to start a business in the baking industry, keep reading for instructions on how build a strong business plan.

Ready to get baking? Use Wix to build a business website and learn how to make a bakery website .

Why create a bakery business plan? Key benefits to consider

Crafting a bakery business plan is important for several reasons. First, it forces you to conduct thorough market research and analysis, helping you gain insights into your target market's preferences, trends and competition. This information is vital for designing a product lineup that resonates with customers and stands out in the crowded baking market.

A well-structured business plan aids in clarifying your bakery's unique value proposition as well. By clearly defining what sets the bakery apart from its competitors, you can effectively communicate your brand's identity and build a strong customer base.

Beyond all this, your business plan lays out a detailed operational plan, outlining your bakery's workflow, supply chain management, staffing requirements and equipment needs. This level of detail is crucial to ensure smooth day-to-day operations and efficient resource allocation.

Finally, a bakery business plan is a vital tool for raising money for your business whether from investors, lenders or stakeholders. It demonstrates your commitment, understanding of the industry and your business's potential for profitability. It can help potential investors gauge your bakery's revenue-generating capacity and projected returns on investment.

How to create a bakery business plan in 6 steps

So how do you go about crafting your plan? In the upcoming sections, we'll guide you through six essential ingredients of a bakery business plan.

Executive summary

Business and domain names

Market analysis and research

Operations plan

Marketing and advertising plan

Financial plan

01. Executive summary

An executive summary is a concise and compelling overview of your bakery business plan, designed to capture the reader's attention and provide a snapshot of the entire plan. This section should be written last (after you've crafted the rest of the plan), to ensure that it accurately reflects the key points and highlights of your bakery business venture.

When writing an executive summary for a bakery business plan, aim to include the following elements:

Briefly describe the core concept of your bakery business. Highlight what sets it apart from competitors and emphasize your unique value proposition.

Summarize the market research you've conducted to identify your target audience, market trends and growth opportunities.

Provide a high-level overview of your financial projections, including revenue estimates, startup costs and potential profitability.

Outline the short-term and long-term goals you aim to achieve with your bakery business.

Introduce key members of your team and highlight their relevant expertise for this type of business .

Mention any funding requirements you have and how the funds will be utilized to support the bakery's growth.

Conclude with a compelling statement that encourages readers to explore the rest of the business plan.

Example of an executive summary for a bakery

"Sweet Delights Bakery is a specialty bakery poised to revolutionize the local dessert scene with its artisanal approach and innovative flavors. Our commitment to using organic and locally-sourced ingredients sets us apart in a market craving healthier alternatives. With a target demographic of health-conscious consumers and a focus on catering to dietary preferences, we anticipate tapping into an underserved niche.

Our projected revenue for the first year is $300,000, with startup costs totaling $100,000. By year three, we aim to achieve profitability and expand our reach to neighboring towns. With a team that brings together culinary expertise and marketing prowess, we are well-equipped to execute our vision.

We seek $75,000 in funding to secure a prime location, procure high-quality equipment and launch an impactful marketing campaign. Sweet Delights Bakery is poised to become a local favorite and a go-to destination for unique and guilt-free indulgences."

02. Business and domain names

Naming a business is critical for brand recognition and online presence. A business name generator can help spark ideas and ensure your restaurant business name aligns with your bakery's identity.

For instance, if your bakery focuses on gluten-free treats, a name like "PureBites Bakery" reflects your commitment to wholesome ingredients. Once you decide on a company name, ensure that a corresponding domain name is available. Your domain name should be memorable, easy to spell and closely related to your bakery's name. Avoid complex names that can confuse potential customers.

Once you’ve landed on a business name, you’ll want to learn how to register a business .

03. Market analysis and research

Including a comprehensive market analysis in your business plan is crucial for understanding the competitive landscape and shaping your business strategy. Conduct market research to identify your target audience's preferences, behaviors and spending habits. Analyze your competitors' strengths and weaknesses to find opportunities for differentiation.

By understanding market trends and consumer needs, you can tailor your bakery's offerings and marketing messages effectively. Use this analysis to develop a unique value proposition that resonates with your target customers, ultimately setting your bakery apart in a crowded market.

04. Operations plan

The operations plan is a pivotal section of your bakery business plan, outlining the practical aspects of running your business effectively. This includes selecting an appropriate location, detailing the layout and design of your premises, identifying the necessary equipment for baking (alongside packaging and display) and specifying your staffing needs.

For instance, in the operations plan, you would detail how your bakery's layout promotes efficient workflow and customer engagement. You'd also discuss equipment like ovens, mixers, refrigerators and display cases that are essential for your bakery's operations. Staffing needs would include roles like bakers, decorators, cashiers and customer service representatives.

05. Marketing and advertising plan

The marketing and advertising plan outlines how you'll promote your bakery business to your target audience. Consider a mix of strategies such as using social media platforms, such as Instagram or Facebook, to showcase your visually appealing baked goods and engage with customers.

Additionally, you can build local partnerships by collaborating with local cafes or businesses for cross-promotions. This can include hosting tastings or events to introduce your products to the local community.

Consider making a website where customers can browse your offerings and place orders. A website builder like Wix can help you get online fast. From there, you can market and sell your goods as well as build an email list for newsletters and promotions to keep customers informed about new products.

Need some help building up your brand? Check out these bakery logo ideas and Wix’s free logo maker , as well as our guide on how to make a bakery logo .

06. Financial plan

The financial plan is a crucial part of any bakery business plan as it outlines the financial aspects of your venture. It includes cost to start an LLC if relevant, other startup costs, projected revenue, expenses and profitability timelines. Clearly define your funding needs, whether through personal investment, loans or investors.

The financial plan should encompass a break-even analysis, highlighting the point at which your bakery covers its expenses and starts generating profits. It's essential to provide realistic financial projections based on market research and industry benchmarks.

Bakery business plan example: SweetBite Bakery

Part 1: executive summary.

SweetBite Bakery is a gourmet dessert destination set to captivate dessert enthusiasts with its delectable creations. Our commitment to crafting unique and artistic desserts using premium ingredients positions us as a standout in the bakery industry. With a focus on custom-designed cakes and intricate pastries, we aim to elevate the dessert experience for our customers.

We anticipate generating $500,000 in revenue in our first year, with a startup investment of $150,000. Our team of skilled pastry chefs and experienced business professionals are well-prepared to execute our vision. We're seeking $100,000 in funding to secure a prime downtown location, invest in state-of-the-art baking equipment and launch an immersive marketing campaign.

Part 2: company and domain names

Company name: SweetBite Bakery

Domain name: www.sweetbitebakery.com

Part 3: marketing analysis and research

Through comprehensive market research, we've identified a niche for exquisite custom desserts in our target area. The bakery landscape lacks specialized gourmet options, providing us a significant opportunity for differentiation. Consumer preferences for unique, visually appealing treats and the growing trend of personalized celebrations further support our concept.

Part 4: operations plan

Location: We'll secure a charming storefront in the heart of the city, attracting foot traffic and enhancing visibility.

Premises: The bakery's interior will exude a cozy yet sophisticated ambiance, reflecting our premium offerings.

Equipment: Our bakery will be equipped with top-tier ovens, mixers and presentation displays to ensure the highest quality.

Staffing: We'll hire skilled pastry chefs, decorators and front-of-house staff to provide exceptional customer service.

Part 5: marketing and advertising plan

Social media: Engage customers through Instagram by showcasing our artistic creations and behind-the-scenes processes.

Local partnerships: Collaborate with local event planners and venues for special occasions and catering opportunities.

Tastings and events: Host weekly dessert tastings to introduce our offerings and build a loyal customer base.

Online presence: Launch an interactive website where customers can explore our menu order customized treats and stay updated on our latest creations.

Email marketing: Build an email subscriber list to share exclusive promotions, seasonal specials and upcoming events.

Part 6: financial plan

Startup investment: $150,000 (from personal savings and a small business loan)

Projected first-year revenue: $500,000

Projected first-year expenses: $350,000

Profitability timeline: By the end of the second year

Bakery business plan example: Wholesome Harvest Bakery

Wholesome Harvest Bakery is a health-conscious bakery determined to revolutionize baked goods by focusing on natural, nutritious ingredients. Our dedication to producing wholesome treats and accommodating various dietary preferences positions us as a pioneer in the health-oriented bakery market.

In our first year, we anticipate generating $350,000 in revenue, with startup costs totaling $100,000. Our diverse team of nutritionists and bakers are poised to execute our mission. We're seeking $75,000 in funding to secure a local storefront and invest in equipment that aligns with our health-focused approach.

Company name: Wholesome Harvest Bakery

Domain name: www.wholesomeharvestbakery.com

Our market analysis reveals a growing demand for healthier bakery options due to increased health awareness. With a focus on gluten-free, vegan and sugar-free offerings, we aim to cater to health-conscious consumers seeking guilt-free indulgence.

Location: We'll secure a location near fitness centers and health food stores to target our niche market.

Premises: Our bakery interior will reflect a fresh and natural ambiance, showcasing our commitment to health.

Equipment: We'll invest in specialty ovens and equipment that align with our ingredient-focused approach.

Staffing: Our team will comprise of nutrition experts, experienced bakers and customer service professionals.

Social media: Utilize Instagram and Pinterest to share health tips, recipe insights and showcase our nutrient-rich treats.

Local partnerships: Collaborate with gyms, wellness centers and yoga studios to cross-promote healthy living.

Tastings and events: Host workshops on healthy baking and nutrition, attracting a community of health enthusiasts.

Online presence: Develop a user-friendly website with detailed nutritional information, allowing customers to order online.

Email marketing: Regularly send out newsletters with recipes, health tips and exclusive discounts to our subscribers.

Startup investment: $100,000 (personal savings and a small business loan)

Projected first-year revenue: $350,000

Projected first-year expenses: $250,000

Profitability timeline: By the end of the first year

How profitable is owning a bakery?

Yes, owning a bakery business can be profitable, but it is important to note that it is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Bakeries have thin profit margins, so it is important to carefully manage costs in order to be successful. However, there are a number of things that bakery owners can do to increase their profitability, such as:

Offering high-quality baked goods and coffee

Providing excellent customer service

Marketing their bakery effectively

Offering catering services

Selling merchandise, such as aprons, cookbooks, and gift baskets

Controlling costs by using fresh, seasonal ingredients and making products in-house

It is also important to choose a good location for your bakery. A high-traffic area with good visibility is ideal. Additionally, it is important to consider the competition in the area. If there are already a number of successful bakeries in your area, you may need to offer something unique to differentiate yourself from the competition. If you are willing to put in the hard work and dedication, owning a bakery business can be a rewarding and profitable experience. Here are some tips for increasing the profitability of your bakery business:

Focus on high-margin items. Some items, such as cakes and cupcakes, have higher profit margins than others, such as bread and pastries. Focus on offering a mix of high-margin and low-margin items to keep your customers happy and your profits up.

Reduce costs. There are a number of ways to reduce costs in your bakery business, such as using energy-efficient equipment, buying in bulk, and making products in-house.

Increase sales. There are a number of ways to increase sales in your bakery business, such as offering catering services, selling merchandise, and offering loyalty programs.

Market your business effectively. Make sure people know about your bakery by marketing your business online and offline.

By following these tips, you can increase the profitability of your bakery business and achieve your financial goals.

What are the disadvantages of owning a bakery?

Owning a bakery can be a rewarding experience, but it's important to be aware of the disadvantages before starting a bakery business. Some of the disadvantages of owning a bakery include:

Long hours and hard work. Bakers often work long hours, especially during busy times, such as holidays and weekends. Baking is also physically demanding work, and bakers often have to stand for long periods of time.

Thin profit margins. The profit margins for bakeries are thin, so it's important to carefully manage costs in order to be profitable.

Competitive landscape. The bakery industry is a competitive one, so it's important to differentiate your bakery from the competition.

Perishable products. Bakery products are perishable, so it's important to manage inventory carefully to avoid waste.

Food safety concerns. Bakeries must adhere to strict food safety regulations to protect customers from food poisoning.

Reliance on suppliers. Bakeries rely on suppliers for ingredients and supplies. If a supplier has a problem, it can disrupt your business operations.

Seasonality. Bakery sales can vary depending on the season. For example, sales may be higher during the holidays and lower during the summer months.

Customer expectations. Customers expect fresh, high-quality baked goods. It's important to meet these expectations in order to keep customers coming back.

Employee turnover. The bakery industry has a high employee turnover rate. This can make it difficult to find and retain qualified staff.

Despite the disadvantages, owning a bakery can be a rewarding experience. Bakeries play an important role in the community, and many bakers enjoy the satisfaction of creating delicious and beautiful baked goods that people love.

What mistakes do startup bakeries make?

Some of the most common mistakes that startup bakeries make include:

Underestimating the costs. Starting a bakery can be expensive. It's important to carefully estimate all of the costs involved before starting your business. This will help you to avoid financial problems down the road.

Overestimating demand. It's important to be realistic about the demand for your baked goods. Don't overproduce baked goods or you will end up wasting money.

Not marketing their business effectively. Make sure to market your bakery business effectively in order to attract customers. Don't be afraid to invest in marketing strategies and advertising.

Not offering a diverse product mix. Offer a diverse product mix to appeal to a wide range of customers. Don't just focus on one type of baked good.

Not having a good business plan. A business plan is essential for any business, but it's especially important for startups. A business plan will help you to define your business goals, strategies and financial projections.

Bakery business plan FAQ

What is the most profitable bakery item.

The most profitable bakery item varies depending on the region and the type of bakery. However, some of the most profitable bakery items include:

Coffee and tea

What is the failure rate of bakeries?

Can i start a bakery with no money, are bakeries hard to start, want to create another type of business plan.

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Bakery Business Plan Template and Guide

Take the first step in your business journey with this free bakery business plan template..

What You’ll Get with This Free Bakery Business Plan Template:

• A business plan template for a bakery that can be edited in Word or Pages
• Tips, tricks, and instructions to help you create a winning business plan for your bakery
• 8 customizable sections, including an executive summary, market analysis, and operations plan

What is a Bakery Business Plan?

From the smell of freshly baked bread to the sound of people enjoying their first coffee of the day, there’s nothing more exciting than running a bustling bakery business. Of course, before you can start thinking about day-to-day operations, you’ve got to start with a solid plan – and that’s where a bakery business plan comes in.

A bakery business plan is a document full of information that describes the critical parts of your bakery business. It starts with high-level information about your bakery and vision, and then dives into more detailed sections, such as your ideal customers, what goods and services you’ll offer, and your marketing plan. It’s usually 15–20 pages in length, including graphics, charts, and other visuals that help communicate your vision and simplify information and data.

Although writing a business plan for your bakery can be daunting, doing so offers you and your bakery business many benefits.

Why Do You Need a Bakery Business Plan?

A bakery business plan has a number of key benefits:

• A well-written business plan for a bakery can help entrepreneurs and existing business owners alike have a clear vision and roadmap for their bakery. It also helps you get back on track if you stray from the goals you outlined.
• It can also help you attract investors and secure funding because potential investors will see your plan is thorough, organized, and well-researched.
• The information in a business plan helps future you make informed decisions when you’re not sure what to do with a certain part of your bakery business.
• Researching for your business plan will help you understand your market and competitor bakeries better so you will be more prepared when tackling future challenges.
• As your bakery grows, you will have a foundation to build on top of when you need an updated business plan.

Now that you know why having a bakery business plan is so important, you can learn about how to write one using this guide and by downloading the business plan template for a bakery.

How Do You Write a Business Plan for a Bakery Business?

Writing a business plan for your bakery can be complex, but instead of starting from scratch (like you would with a batch of homemade croissants), our business plan template for bakeries can help you turn your dreams into reality in just a few quick and easy steps.

Keep in mind that you should write your business plan with a professional, objective tone, and with clear, concise, and simple language. This way, any reader, including potential investors, can easily understand the information in your business plan and will be more likely to provide you with funding.

Following a traditional business plan outline will also help orient your readers and ensure you include all the essential information that a successful business plan needs, ultimately setting yourself up for success.

Bakery Business Plan Sample Outline

A traditional bakery business plan sample has the seven sections, all outlined below. Read on to learn more about what each section is. And, download the free bakery business plan template if you want to follow along and start jotting down your ideas.

1. Executive Summary for a Bakery Business

Start your plan with an executive summary for your bakery. This will give a broad overview of the other sections of your business plan (the sections below). It gives readers the highlights of your vision, target market, goals, operations, strategies, menu, and financial information. And it will tell readers how your plan will succeed.

This overview is the first impression of your bakery, so make your business stand out by talking about how your bakery is different from competitor bakeries – whether that’s with your locally sourced menu items, your innovative marketing strategies, or other value props.

2. Company Overview

The company overview is a more detailed rundown of your bakery idea after what you mentioned in the executive summary. Now that you have the interest of the reader, you’ll want to back up your plan with details and your history.

In the company overview, you can talk about what makes your bakery special, what goods you’ll offer, and what kind of service you’ll be using and why. You can also summarize your company’s history with specific details, like why you opened your bakery and the milestones you’ve hit.

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section is where you talk about where your bakery is or will be located and why. What’s special about that location and how does that help your bakery business? What sets you apart from other bakeries in the area?

Also, talk about your target market – who are your ideal customers and do you have any research to support this being your target market? Include how you’ll reach your ideal customers and how you’ll stand out against competitor bakeries. Completing a competitive analysis of other bakeries will also help you be more creative throughout the business plan and show investors you have the research needed to help your bakery succeed.

4. Business Offerings and Menu

This section is where you describe what baked goods you’ll offer in your bakery. Go into as much detail as you want, right down to the specific types of pastries or bread you’ll be making. Focus on the parts that contribute to your value prop, such as special ingredients you’re using (e.g., nut-free, gluten-free), where the ingredients are coming from (e.g., locally sourced), and why these will appeal to your target market (e.g., market research shows a high demand for gluten-free pastries that other bakeries in the area aren’t supplying successfully).

To provide investors with a clear picture of your offerings, include a sample menu for foods, drinks, and other merchandise (if you have any), as well as the pricing strategy behind it all. Don’t forget to consider how your customers will be consuming your products when creating your menu – will they be taking food to go (so you need to ensure the goods will travel well) or eating inside the bakery (so you might offer different foods at different times of day)? 

5. Operations Plan

In this section, you’ll talk about the logistics of your bakery business – what will you need to run your business every day? This section includes the following information:

• Staffing: What types of staff you’ll need on your team and how you’ll recruit them.
• Training for your staff: Cashiers and bakers will need different types of training.
• Technology: The software you’ll need to manage the bakery (from managing inventory to processing online orders to accepting different payment types). 
• Equipment: The tools and appliances you’ll need (e.g., mixers, an oven, a display case)

6. Marketing and PR Plan

Here you’ll explain the marketing channel you’ll be using and strategies for each. Some channels to consider include public relations, online advertising, social media, referral, SEO, and community partnerships. 

Be thoughtful about your marketing tactics by always keeping your target market in mind. If a certain channel or tactic won’t resonate with or reach your ideal customers, then think of what you can do that is more likely to draw them to your bakery.

Also, as you explain your marketing strategies, include your budget and expected return on investment. This exercise will help you ensure you invest in only the most effective marketing tactics.

7. Financial Analysis and Projections

The financial analysis and projections is the last major section of your bakery business plan. Here you’ll talk about the different financial aspects of your bakery business, such as how you’ll support the bakery’s startup costs with loans and existing investments, and how much more funding you’ll need. 

You’ll also talk about the costs and projected revenue for your business – you can do this clearly and effectively with a projected profit and loss statement. You can also include other financial information, like a break-even analysis, to provide investors with the clearest picture possible of your bakery’s finances. This way they’ll know exactly how you plan to spend their potential funding.

With all these sections, your bakery business plan will be thorough enough to answer any questions investors might have before offering you funding. But, to make your business plan stand out, follow the tips below.

Tips for Writing a Bakery Business Plan

Because a business plan needs to be professional and detailed, it can be easy to get lost in the weeds and make your plan too technical, verbose, or unclear. Here are some tips to help you while writing to make sure your business plan is easy to read and engaging.

• Collaborate with your team (or your friends and family if you don’t have a team yet). They can help you come up with unique ideas and provide you with feedback on areas you can improve (e.g., where you can explain more or add a visual to help clarify an idea).
• Mention your value prop(s) throughout the business plan to keep your competitive advantages over other bakeries top of mind for readers.
• Use passionate language and captivating details to add your voice to the business plan. But make sure you don’t clutter your writing with buzzwords or industry jargon that readers might not understand.

With these tips and the free bakery business plan template, you’re ready to start your business plan or update your existing one to be more impressive. All the sections will help show investors why your business will be successful and worth investing in. Plus, your business plan will act as your roadmap and keep you on track as your business comes to life.

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How to Start a Bakery: The Ultimate Guide for Bakers

Lisa Furgison

17 min. read

Updated January 3, 2024

Free Download:  Sample Bakery Business Plan Templates

Are you the one that makes killer cakes for every birthday? Do you churn out to-die-for donuts? If you’re ready to turn your talents into a profitable bakery, you’ve come to the right place.

We chatted with bakers Michelle Green of Three Sweeties, Barbara Batiste of B Sweet Dessert Bar , and Victoria Roe of Three Leee Cupcakery for expert bakery business advice. This guide is meant to give you all the ingredients you need to plan, start, and grow a successful bakery.

To get your piece of the pie, combine these tips with your impressive baking talents and you’ll be on your way to success.

• 9 steps to start a bakery

With Michelle and Barbara’s help, let’s get the planning process started.

1. Choose the kind of bakery you’d like to open

One of the first decisions you’ll have to make is the kind of shop you want to open. To do this, you’ll want to assess your talents, budget, and goals. Be sure you’re not making this decision in a bubble—you will want to have your ear to the ground on national trends in the industry —remember the cupcake shop craze (and the cupcake-focused reality TV shows) a few years back? But don’t simply take your findings at face value either. It’s equally important to do local market research to figure out how national currents will affect your particular location and demographic. From there: take a look at the list below and decide which type of bakery is right for you.

• Online. You don’t need a storefront to open a bakery. You can start out online. With a killer website, pictures of your work, and a way to place an order, you can run it from your home.
• Counter service. With a small commercial space, customers can walk in and pick up baked goods from an employee-managed counter.
• Specialty service. If you plan to specialize in a certain kind of baked good, a specialty service is your best option. Whether you run the business from your home or rent a space is up to you.
• Sit down. More owners are trying to capitalize on the sit-down and dine option. It’s a growing trend in the bakery industry right now. Picture a space that has both an area to order baked goods and a spot to sit and enjoy them.

2. Write a bakery business plan

Once you know what kind of bakery you want to open, you need to create a business plan . This will force you to look at the business from every angle. It will help you define your business, set goals, find ways to generate revenue, list expenses, identify your customer base, and examine your competition. You can check out our free bakery sample business plan for some guidance.

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As part of your business plan, you’ll dive into finances. One of the numbers you’ll need to generate is your startup costs . 

You’ll need to compile a list of equipment, from appliances like ovens and refrigerators to smaller items like utensils and pans. Make sure you create a full list of tools. The equipment will be a one-time hit, but you’ll also need money to live on while the business gets established.

You won’t make profits overnight, so you need to sit down and figure out when you’ll break even and how much money you’ll need to survive until that time.

3. Get funding for your bakery business

Starting a bakery requires a substantial investment in ingredients, kitchen equipment, the lease or purchase of a suitable location, hiring employees, and marketing. You’ll need to have a solid plan for sourcing the necessary funds. Here are a few ways you can explore:

Personal Savings: 

Using personal savings can be the simplest way to fund your bakery, as it doesn’t involve loans or interest. However, this method can be risky if your business doesn’t go as planned, so make sure you are aware of what to expect when funding your own business .

Loans: 

Banks, credit unions, and online lenders provide small business loans that can be used to fund your bakery. Before applying for a loan, ensure that your credit score is good and that you can meet the monthly repayment requirements.

Investors: 

You can pitch your bakery idea to potential investors. These could be friends, family members, or venture capitalists. However, this typically means giving them a portion of your business profits.

Crowdfunding: 

Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo allow you to create a crowdfunding campaign for your bakery. This method allows people who are interested in your concept to donate money to your cause. In return, you can provide them with rewards, such as free pastries for a certain period. If you are interested in this option, make sure you know the crowdfunding basics first.

Remember, no matter which option you choose, it’s essential to have a well-constructed business plan. This plan should outline your business idea, target market, marketing strategy, projected income, and expenditure. Lenders, investors, and grantors would likely request this document before they consider funding your bakery.

Finally, it’s advisable to seek advice from a financial advisor or a small business consultant before making a decision on funding. They can provide you with valuable insights and help you assess the potential risks and benefits associated with each funding option.

4. Lease a space for your bakery business

If you’re running a bakery from your home, you’ve already got your space figured out. If you plan to invite customers into your shop, you’ll need a formal spot with a kitchen and an area for the public. Some bakers decide to rent out commercial kitchen space only. It’s a good option if you don’t want customers to walk through your shop and just need a bigger, more equipped kitchen.

Whatever your needs, be picky. Shop around, compare prices, talk with neighboring businesses, and research the area to make sure you find the right space. It’s never a bad idea to look into small business incubator programs that might offer space and business training or mentorship at a reduced rate. Do not forget to consider the legal necessities—which will vary from state to state—such as obtaining a license to bake out of your own kitchen.

Roe says that following some simple guidelines laid out by the USDA lets her earn an income, and develop wholesale relationships with local restaurants, independent hotels, and coffee shops, but still enjoys the benefits of being a stay at home mother. 

“Baking from home at some times can be a challenge, Mainly in the realm of time management and little fingers wanting to try all the frosting. I am also limited on certain ingredients that I am allowed to use depending on their acidity ratio and their storability because I am not a commercial kitchen,” she says.

Wherever you decide to run your bakery, be sure to think through the pros and cons and their related costs.

5 . Secure the necessary licenses and permits for your bakery

Before you can open your bakery, you’ll need to secure the appropriate licenses and permits. These may vary by city, state, or country, so it’s crucial to do your research and ensure you are in compliance with all legal requirements. Below are some typical licenses and permits your bakery might need:

Business License: Permits you to run a business within your locality.

Food Service License: Issued by the health department, this license certifies your bakery meets health and safety standards.

Seller’s Permit: Allows you to collect sales tax from customers if your state requires it.

Sign Permit: Required in certain localities for displaying a business sign.

Fire Department Permit: Required if your bakery uses potentially fire-causing equipment like ovens.

Liquor License: Necessary if you plan on serving alcohol.

Home Occupation Permit: Required for home-based bakeries in some areas.

To get started with the process of obtaining these licenses and permits, contact your local city hall or county clerk’s office. They can provide a complete list of the permits you need, the costs involved, and guidance on how to apply.

Additionally, consider seeking legal advice to ensure you have all the necessary licenses and permits. This can help avoid potential legal issues that could arise if your bakery is found to be operating without the necessary documentation.

6. Purchase the needed equipment for your bakery

The right equipment is crucial for the efficient functioning of your bakery. Here’s a basic list of what you may need:

Ovens: This is the heart of your bakery. The type needed will depend on what you’re baking, be it convection, deck, or rack ovens.

Mixers: A high-quality mixer is essential for breads, cakes, and pastries. You might need a variety of sizes depending on your production volume.

Refrigeration: Coolers or refrigerators are necessary to keep dough, fillings, and other ingredients fresh.

Display Cases: If customers will be visiting your bakery, you’ll need attractive display cases for your baked goods.

Bakery Smallwares: Items like baking sheets, pans, mixing bowls, spatulas, and other baking utensils.

Work Tables: You’ll need a good amount of workspace for prepping and baking.

Cash Register or Point of Sale System: Essential for handling transactions.

Cleaning Equipment: Keep your bakery hygienic with items like sinks, mops, brooms, and sanitizing solutions.

It’s important to consider whether to buy new or used equipment. While new equipment can be costly, it often comes with warranties and is less likely to break down. Used equipment can be more affordable but may require more maintenance. Always prioritize quality and durability in your selections.

7. Price your baked goods

Most bakers base their retail price points on the cost of supplies and the time it takes to make the goods, but Green says this formula is flawed.

“Your prices should include things like clean up time, packaging, and time spent promoting your business on social media,” she says. “The biggest hidden cost in a bakery is time. It’s easy to forget the time you spent making flowers because you were watching TV while you did it. There is nothing worse than realizing afterward that you earned 50 cents an hour on a fabulous creation.”

See Also: What You Absolutely Cannot Afford to Forget When Pricing Your Products

8. Have a defined friends and family policy

Before you sell your first scone, be aware that friends and family will probably ask for a discount.

When you’re selling cakes and cookies as a side gig, it’s fine to give the neighbor or the PTA president a discount, but when you start your business, it’s different. “All those wonderful people who previously bought cakes off of you for the cost of ingredients are going to need to be re-educated about what you’re doing now,”

Green says. “Those who really love and support you will also understand your need to feed your family and pay your rent.” If you want to offer a 10 percent discount to friends and family, that’s fine, but whatever your policy is, make sure it’s consistent.

9. Find support

Speaking of friends and family, a support system is crucial in the baking business, Batiste says. Opening a business is time-consuming. Time spent baking is only half the commitment. You’ll need to market your business, take orders, help customers, and do an array of administrative tasks.

If you don’t have someone cheering you on, it can be hard. Whether it’s your spouse, a colleague, or business mentor, you need someone in your corner. Roe says, “To say it is just me would be a lie. Though I do all the baking, my husband helps me tremendously, from delivering to running out late for some organic butter.”

• Feed the people

What’s the one ingredient every successful small business needs? Customers. This next segment will help you find and retain customers.

1. Be the best, the first, or the only one

Be original. These two words might seem like generic advice, but to survive, you can’t be a carbon copy of your competitors. “Be the best, the first, or the only one baking the kind of treats you make,” Green says. “If you can be all three of those things, that’s even better.”

Know what kind of competition you have in your area and work to set yourself apart. Green’s bakery, for example, is the only one in the area that sells nut-free cupcakes.

Roe’s focus is on gluten-free and vegan baked goods made with organic and local ingredients. “I really find happiness in seeing any child be able to have a decadent cupcake or piece of cake on their birthday that otherwise would not be able to because of food allergies. I have experimented relentlessly to create recipes that taste amazing, even know they are free of animal by products, gluten, pesky preservatives and all that other nasty stuff.” It’s an approach that resonates in her community where so many people value natural and locally sourced food.

One of Batiste’s original twists is a food truck. You know the food trucks that sell sandwiches and pizza to folks during the lunch hour? Well, Batiste has her own dessert trucks that travel the streets of Los Angeles selling all kinds of tasty treats. The trucks even have their own Twitter handle, so customers can locate them at any time.

2. Be prepared to market your product

You can spend all day and night in the kitchen creating the next best cake, but if no one knows about it, it doesn’t matter. That’s why you have to set aside time and money to market your business .

“Being a fabulous baker doesn’t guarantee success,” Green says. “You also have to be a fabulous marketer too.” Too many bakers get wrapped up in technique, but “perfect ganached edges mean nothing if you have no actual orders on which to have perfect ganached edges.”

Here are a few low cost or free marketing ideas:

• Write a blog: To promote her business, Green devotes some of her time to blogging . Recently, she wrote a post about delivering cakes long distance.
• Use social media: Social media is a great way to promote your business. If you’re short on time, pick one social media site and post consistently.
• Join groups: As with any business, networking can bring in more customers. Join local business groups like your chamber of commerce or small business association and forge relationships.

See Also: 11 Tips for Focused, Effective (and Inexpensive) Startup Marketing

3. Focus on your customers

Your customers are your key to success. Happy customers become repeat customers, so work to make each customer experience memorable, Batiste says.

Ask your customers for feedback, talk with them at the counter, and ask for product suggestion once in awhile. Green agrees. “Make the customer experience count,” she says. “That’s the best way to get repeat customers and money in the register.”

See Also: 9 Ways to Thank Your Favorite Customers

• Grow your bakery

Once the bakery is up and running, you can start thinking about growth. We’ve got a few tips to make sure it continues to thrive.

1. Expand your bakery business’ offerings

Most bakeries are busy during the warm months. Shoppers that are out and about are likely to wander into your shop on sunny summer days. Plus, summer is full of parties like graduations and weddings. The end of the year will be busy too, Batiste says, as the holidays are always a hectic time for bakers.

To even out your revenue stream, you might consider diversifying your business. Batiste offers catering, for example. Her corporate clients keep a steady stream of orders coming through year round. Of course, adding products could increase your expenses and change your workflow, so make sure you weigh all of your options if you plan to branch out.

See Also: How to Balance Cash Flow in a Seasonal Business

2. Hire and train bakery employees

When the orders pile up and you need more hands in the kitchen, you’ll have to make your first hire. Batiste says she had a hard time hiring help because she didn’t want the quality of her products to suffer.

She did bring several employees on board, but she did so cautiously. “Don’t hire anyone immediately and put new hires on a probation period. You want to make sure they are trustworthy and have the capability to learn,” she says. “Really delegate the way you want your business [to run] and how you want your food cooked and baked. Set the bar really high.”

See Also: How to Hire Your First Employee

3. Market your bakery

Your initial marketing strategies will hopefully result in a steady stream of repeat customers, but that doesn’t mean you should let up on your marketing efforts.

Try new marketing tactics. Buy ads on social media, participate in charity events, and hand out business cards as often as possible. You should always be looking for new ways to get your name out there, Green says.

See Also: 18 Affordable Marketing Tactics Restaurants Can Use to Bring in More Customers

4. Plan for retirement

When you’re first starting out, you’re thinking about breaking even. Putting away money for retirement is usually pretty far down the list of things to accomplish, but you shouldn’t let it linger.

Once the business is functioning, you should sit down with a financial advisor and talk about saving for retirement. As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to make long-term financial plans.

• Next steps for your bakery business

If you’re ready to take the next step towards starting your own bakery business, you can view our free bakery sample business plan . If you need a little extra guidance, check out our article on How to Write a Bakery Business Plan . 

A little more on the bakery business owners:

Michelle Green started baking when she was a teen, but it wasn’t until she was well into her corporate career that she realized baking was her true calling. Fed up with the stale muffins that seemed to be standard fare at all of her board meetings, this baker and mother of triplets decided to ditch the business suit and open her own shop in Australia called Three Sweeties .

Barbara Batiste was also baking treats at an early age for her close-knit Filipino family, and after years of amazing her relatives with her creations, she decided to turn her love of all things tasty into a business. She started in her home, and her business continued to expand. She has outgrown three commercial kitchens since, in part due to her creative business modeling, which includes both a catering service and a mobile dessert food truck. Now, she’s preparing to open a storefront in West Los Angeles called B Sweet Dessert Bar .

Victoria Roe started baking over a decade ago when she was asked to make a carrot cake for her mother-in-law’s birthday. She runs her business from home, a cottage industry, in a small village in Ohio. Most of her customers find her through word of mouth or learn about her business when they taste one of her creations at a local coffee shop. She focuses on gluten-free and vegan–but you’d never know it to taste them. Running Three Leee Cupcakery from home gives Victoria the flexibility to be present to her young family and pursue a degree in business while bringing in income.

Clarify your ideas and understand how to start your business with LivePlan

Lisa Furgison is a multimedia journalist with a passion for writing. She holds a graduate degree in mass communications and spent eight years as a television reporter before moving into the freelance world, where she focuses mainly on content creation and social media strategies. Furgison has crisscrossed the U.S. as a reporter, but now calls Key West, Florida home. When she's not conducting interviews or typing away on her laptop, she loves to travel.

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Bakery Business Plan: How to write it [Complete Guide]

• January 3, 2023
• Food & Beverage

Whether you’re looking to raise funding from private investors or to get a loan from a bank (like a SBA loan) for your bakery, you will need to prepare a solid business plan.

In this article we go through, step-by-step, all the different sections you need in the business plan for your bakery. Use this template to create a complete, clear and solid business plan that get you funded.

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary of a business plan gives a sneak peek of the information about your business plan to lenders and/or investors.

If the information you provide here is not concise, informative, and scannable, potential lenders and investors will lose interest.

Though the executive summary is the first and the most important section, it should normally be the last section you write because it will have the summary of different sections included in the entire plan.

Why do you need a business plan for a bakery?

The purpose of a business plan is to secure funding through one of the following channels:

• Obtain bank financing or secure a loan from other lenders (such as a SBA loan )
• Obtain private investments from investment funds, angel investors, etc.
• Obtain a public or a private grant

How to write your bakery’s executive summary?

Provide a precise and high-level summary of every section that you have included in your bakery business plan. The information and the data you include in this segment should grab the attention of potential investors and lenders immediately. Ensure that the executive summary doesn’t exceed 2 pages in total.

The executive summary usually consists of the five major sub-sections that include:

• Business Overview : give a brief introduction to your bakery and quickly describe your brand, its offerings, the pricing list of products and what sets you apart from your competitors
• Market Overview : the market analysis segment will contain an overview of the expected bakery market size and growth in your area, as well as an analysis of your competitors and target audience
• Management & People : introduce your bakery’s management and employee structure. Provide a brief (no more than a couple of sentences each) of the knowledge and experience of the team. Also, speak here about your hiring plans and the reporting lines
• Financial Plan : how much profit and revenue do you expect in the next 5 years? When will you reach the break-even point and start making profits? Include here a chart depicting your key financials such as revenue, gross profits, and net profit
• Funding Ask : what loan/investment/grant are you seeking? How much do you need? How long will this last?

Bakery Financial Model

Download an expert-built 5-year Excel financial model for your business plan

2. Bakery Business Overview

In this section of your bakery business plan, you will provide an overview (slightly more detailed) of your business. If there is something unique about your baked products, mention that in this segment.

Some of the most important questions that you must try to answer in this section include:

• Why are you opening a bakery?
• Where will your bakery be located and why did you choose that location?
• What type of baked products will you sell (low-calorie, vegan, gluten-free, etc.)?
• Why do you want to offer those product lines?
• How will you price your food offerings?
• Will your operating hours be the same as your competitors?
• Who is your target audience?
• What will be the legal structure of your company?

Let’s look at different subsections that you must include:

a) History of the Project

Any business must have two components:

• Passion & experience of the business owner
• Rationale behind the business

Passion & Experience

It is not necessary to have any prior experience with a bakery. As long as you are passionate about it and you know your market, you are good to go. 

However, if you have any experience, make sure that you are mentioning that. For example, you may have been a head pastry chef and a creative cake decorator in a popular bakery for 6 years and now you want to launch your own bakery.

No matter what, ensure that you demonstrate not just passion but also some industry knowledge that you must garner through thorough research.

Every business has a rationale behind its existence. What’s yours? Are you going to solve some problems that exist in the current bakery business scene? 

For instance, the target market may have a very high percentage of pastry-loving obese people. You may be the first one to introduce low-calorie pastries, cakes, and other baked items. 

Similarly, if the area has a high vegan density, you may want to introduce a line of vegan products that no other bakery in the area is offering.

You must also ensure that the market is conducive for the business to exist. For instance, if you are a master cake maker who makes ultra-realistic cakes that cost a lot and try to sell them in a low-income neighborhood, your cakes will probably not sell.

Therefore, it is important to understand the market before starting a business to prevent extreme losses, and eventually closure.

b) Business Model

This is where you will talk about the business model and the type of bakery you want to open. Some points that you need to briefly describe here are:

• Will you buy a new bakery, or will you buy an old one and remodel it?
• Will you open a specialty bakery, a counter service bakery, or some other bakery type?
• What equipment, technologies, inventory, and tools will you need to operate your bakery?
• Where will you source your ingredients from?

There are various types of bakeries that you consider:

• Bakery Café : It is a sit-down bakery. It is a retail bakery with a dedicated dining area. There will be front-of-house and back-of-house spaces and people will often order food and other drinks apart from your baked items like muffins, cupcakes, cookies, etc. People can also order tea, coffee, sandwiches, etc.
• Counter Service Bakery : These bakeries do not have any dining area. People will order food and take them away. You can sell other food items like drinks, burgers, sandwiches, etc. apart from your usual baked goods.
• Specialty Bakery : These bakeries focus on a very specific set of products. For example, wedding cakes, gluten-free baked products, etc.
• Retail or Wholesale Bakery : The difference between a retail and a wholesale bakery is that in the retail model, you will sell to your direct customers (B2C). In the wholesale model, you will be selling to other businesses like cafes, restaurants, specialty shops, etc.

Irrespective of the type of bakery you want to open, make sure that there is adequate demand for the products you want to sell. For instance, if you are trying to sell a vegan line of baked products to customers who want non-veg-based baked products, you will not succeed. There must be enough vegans in your target market.

c) Products & Services

In this sub-section of your bakery business plan, you will provide a list of your products and services . For instance, if you intend to open a specialty bakery such as wedding cakes, you must provide a menu listing all that you have to offer.

Similarly, if you want to sell bread, cookies, and pastries only, make sure that your sample menu lists them. If there are too many items that you intend to sell, make sure that the sample menu you are providing includes the major attractions. You don’t need to list all the items.

d) Pricing Strategy

This is where you will explain your pricing strategy . Of course, your prices can vary significantly from your competitors. However, if there is a significant price variation, you must explain such differences.

For instance, you may be selling custom-designed birthday and wedding cakes instead of generic designs. That may be the reason for higher costs. Similarly, the quality of the ingredients you use for baking can also account for the price differences.

Irrespective of the case, include a pricing chart for your menu items. No need to include the price of every product or product bundle you intend to sell. Instead of listing the price for every product individually, you can just provide a pricing range.

For example, you can do something like this:

• Multi-decker cakes with custom fondant-crafted figurines: $350 to $1,000
• Gluten-free cookies: $3 to $6

Offering a pricing chart is important because your pricing strategy will also allow investors to tie your pricing strategy with your financial projections later on.

e) Legal Structure

Finally, your business overview section should specify what type of business structure you want. Is this a corporation or a partnership (LLC)? Who are the investors? How much equity percentage do they own? Is there a Board of Directors? If so, whom? Do they have experience in the industry?

3. Bakery Market Overview

A complete understanding of the market where you want to operate is important for the success of your business.

For example, there may be a large number of cafes in the area with regular and high demand for baked goods like pastries and cookies. Thus, opening a wholesale bakery to serve the B2B demand instead may make sense here.

Therefore, you must cover here 3 important areas in the market overview or market analysis section of the business plan of your bakery:

• Market trends : how big is the bakery industry in your area? What is its growth rate (or decline rate) and what are the factors contributing to its growth or decline?
• Competition overview : how many competitors are there? How do they compare vs. your business? How can you differentiate yourself from them?
• Customer analysis : who is your target audience? What type of bakery setup do they prefer? How frequently do they buy baked goods? What is their average spending at bakeries? 

a) Bakery Industry Status Quo

How big is the bakery industry in the us.

According to the American Bakers Association, the US bakery market represents $154 billion and employs over 800,000 people..! The commercial segment is by far the largest (91% industry size) vs. retail bakeries that only represent 9% of the total US bakery market.

In terms of products, here is the breakdown of the most common bakery products as a percentage of total bakery sales in the US:

How big is the bakery industry in your area?

Once you grab the exact data for the US market and add it to your business plan, you can then divert your attention to the area where you want to operate. It might not be possible to find region or area-specific studies, and hence, you must estimate the size. For more information, read our article on how to estimate TAM, SAM and SOM for your startup.

Let’s now see how to estimate the market size of the bakery industry size for your business plan . We know that:

• The total US market size for retail bakeries is $15 billion (10% of the total $154 billion)
• The total number of retail bakeries is around 23,000

Therefore, the average annual revenue for each retail bakery is around $650,000 (that’s an average of $1,800 in sales per day).

So, if there are 20 already bakeries in the area where you will operate, we can reasonably assume the market size of the bakery industry in your area is around $13 million.

How fast is the bakery industry growing in the area?

Now, you must show the expected growth rate of the bakery industry in your area. This information may not be available via online research papers. However, assessing the growth rate will not be difficult.

You can approach each bakery separately and ask for their year of establishment. You will get a clear picture of the overall growth rate.

For instance, if there were 18 bakeries in 2018 and 20 bakeries in 2022, the average annual growth rate is 5.1%.

b) Bakery Competition Overview

Studying your competitors’ business models is vital. You need to understand what makes them successful or why they fail. A clear understanding of their bakery product offerings, marketing strategies, etc., will allow you to provide a better service.

If your competitors are offering nearly the same products & services, then what is their market share and how do they market their products & services to attract new customers?

It is always a good idea to do some research (if necessary, physically visit your competitors without revealing your business intentions) and create a comparative table summarizing their product & service offerings, marketing strategies, target audience, etc.

Here is a sample table that you can use:

The competition analysis table you will add to your bakery business plan will depend on what information you need and want to include based on your business model.

Bakery SWOT Analysis

Try to provide a SWOT analysis . It must be crisp and highly focused. SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats.

Here is a sample that you can use as a reference:

• Strengths : Baking & Pastry Arts degree from Culinary Institute of America; 6 years of cake and pastry baking & decoration experience in a renowned bakery chain
• Weaknesses : Startup cost, zero reputation
• Opportunities : Increasing demand for healthy baked food because of increasing health consciousness in the target market
• Threats : Big brands like Dewey’s Bakery, Insomnia Cookies, Bare Snacks, etc., are flooding the market

A clear understanding of your strengths and weakness along with opportunities and threats in the real market can help you to design your marketing strategy . It also helps potential investors to assess the risk and reward profile of your business.

c) Bakery Customer Analysis

This is the sub-section where you will provide a detailed analysis of your target audience. Some important points that you must include in your customer analysis include:

• Age and gender distribution (you can get local demographic data from census.gov )
• Per capita expenditure on baked food items
• Frequency of bakery visits
• Average monthly income and disposable income
• Average bill size per visit
• Type of bakery preferred
• The expected price range for baked items
• Preference for healthy snacks and willingness to pay for high-quality products
• Any seasonal preferences they have

You can add as many data points as required to validate your business decision. The idea here is to display your deep understanding of the target audience and their needs, preferences, and expectations. This knowledge can help you to tailor your products & services to attract new customers.

4. Sales & Marketing

This is the segment where you outline your customer acquisition strategy. Try to answer the following questions:

• What is your USP ?
• What are the different marketing strategies you will use?
• How do you intend to track the success of your marketing strategy?
• What is your CAC or customer acquisition cost?
• What is your marketing budget?
• What introductory promos and offers do you intend to provide for attracting new customers?

Let’s expand a bit on a few questions below:

What marketing channels do bakeries use?

A few marketing channels that bakeries typically use are:

• Online listing & reviews (e.g. Google Business)
• Bakery directory listing
• Signage and billboards
• Print media (newspapers, etc.)
• Loyalty programs
• Coupons & gift cards
• Social media interactions and social media ads

It is not necessary to use all channels. You can start by focusing on a few of them. You can include other marketing strategies later.

Also, you must have a fair and nearly accurate estimate of your marketing budget. Failure to display a well-planned and adequate cash flow for advertising and marketing can lead to investors losing confidence. That’s because investors are fully aware that if adequate funds are not allocated for marketing, the business will be derailed before becoming a success.

What is your unique selling proposition (USP)?

In other words, how do you differentiate yourself vs. competitors? This is very important as you might need to win customers from competitors.

A few examples of USPs are:

• Low Calorie : Craving for sweets while burning fat? We have the perfect pastries!
• Vegan : Dairy-free vegan cheesecakes that melt in your mouth
• Doorstep delivery : We will reach your door to satiate your cravings

Your USP will depend on your business model, competitor analysis , and target audience. Whatever your USP be, it should appeal to your potential customers and attract them. Plus, The USP you offer should be convincing enough for investors and lenders.

5. Management & People

You must address two things here:

• The management team and their experience/track record
• The organizational structure: different team members and who reports to whom?

a) Management

Small businesses often fail because of managerial weaknesses. Thus, having a strong management team is vital. Highlight the experience and education of senior managers that you intend to hire to oversee your bakery business.

Describe their duties, responsibilities, and roles. Also, highlight their previous experience and explain how they succeeded in their previous roles.

It is also important that you explain how their experiences and qualifications help you in implementing the bakery you are proposing. If they have specialized training, and experience (such as a degree in baking and pastry arts degree, 6 years of baking experience in a renowned bakery chain, etc.), add that information.

b) Organization Structure

Even if you haven’t already hired production bakers, pastry chefs, kitchen helpers, marketing & accounts personnel, etc., you must provide a flowchart of the organizational structure defining the hierarchy of reporting.

6. Financial Plan

The financial plan is perhaps, with the executive summary, the most important section of any business plan for a bakery.

Indeed, a solid financial plan tells lenders that your business is viable and can repay the loan you need from them. If you’re looking to raise equity from private investors, a solid financial plan will prove them your bakery is an attractive investment.

There should be 2 sections to your financial plan section:

• The startup costs of your project (if you plan to start a new bakery, purchase new equipment, renovate your store, etc.)
• The 5-year financial projections

a) Startup Costs

Before we expand on 5-year financial projections in the following section, it’s always best practice to start with listing the startup costs of your project. For a bakery, startup costs are all the expenses you incur before you open your bakery and start making sales. These expenses typically are:

• The lease deposit for the space (if you rent) or the cost to purchase the real estate
• The renovation / refurbishment of the building / space
• Equipment & furniture for the bakery

Of course, the startup costs depend on many factors like the bakery shop size, its location, the number of staff, quality of the equipment, etc. 

As an example, it costs on average $109,250 to $310,050 to open a 1,500 sq. ft. bakery in the US .

Note that these costs are for illustrative purposes and may not be fully relevant for your business. For more information on how much it costs to open and run a bakery, read our article here .

b) Financial Projections

In addition to startup costs, you will now need to build a solid 5-year financial model for your bakery.

Your financial projections should be built using a spreadsheet (e.g. Excel or Google Sheets) and presented in the form of tables and charts in the business plan of your bakery.

As usual, keep it concise here and save details (for example detailed financial statements, financial metrics, key assumptions used for the projections) for the appendix instead.

Your financial projections should answer at least the following questions:

• How much revenue do you expect to generate over the next 5 years?
• When do you expect to break even?
• How much cash will you burn until you get there?
• What’s the impact of a change in pricing (say 15%) on your margins?
• What is your average customer acquisition cost?

You should include here your 3 financial statements (income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement). This means you must forecast:

• The number of customers over time ;
• Your expected revenue ;
• Operating costs to run the business ;
• Any other cash flow items (e.g. capex, debt repayment, etc.).

When projecting your revenue, make sure to sensitize pricing and the number of customers as a small change in these assumptions will have a big impact on your revenues.

7. Funding Ask

This is the last section of your bakery business plan. Now that we have explained what your bakery business model is, what you sell and to whom, what’s your marketing strategy, etc., this section must now answer the following questions:

• How much funding do you need?
• What financial instrument(s) do you need: is this equity or debt, or even a free-money public grant?
• How long will this funding last?
• Where else does the money come from? If you apply for a SBA loan for example, where does the other part of the investment come from (your own capital, private investors?)

If you raise debt:

• What percentage of the total funding the loan represents?
• What is the corresponding Debt Service Coverage Ratio ?

If you raise equity

• What percentage ownership are you selling as part of this funding round?
• What is the corresponding valuation of your business?

Use of Funds

Any bakery business plan should include a clear use of funds section. This is where you explain how the money will be spent.

Will you spend most of the loan / investment in paying your employees’ salaries? Or will it cover mostly the cost for the lease deposit and the renovation?

Those are very important questions you should be able to answer in the blink of an eye. Don’t worry, this should come straight from your financial projections. If you’ve built solid projections like in our Bakery financial model template , you won’t have any issues answering these questions.

For the use of funds, we also recommend using a pie chart like the one we have in our financial model template where we outline the main expenses categories as shown below.

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How to Write a Business Plan for Baking Business

Published 03.07.2023

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Creating a solid plan is of paramount importance if you're thinking about starting your own home baking business, no matter how big or small. It's like a roadmap that helps you set goals, prepare for challenges, and get the funding you need.

But hey, if you've never made one before, it can feel pretty overwhelming. Don't worry, though! In this article, we will compose a sample of a home baking business plan and guide you through the essential steps of creating it yourself. We aim to give you all the insights and knowledge in a concise manner to understand what this plan is all about!

Baking business plan definition

Just like any other business plan, a baking business-oriented one is a comprehensive document. Regardless of the venture’s size, a home-based bakery business ought to rely on a solid plan. This way, as a business owner, you will be able to track profitability, attract investments and see ways to improve it. 

• Details about the business’ products and goods;
• Information on target customers;
• Researched data on competitors and the market;
• A marketing strategy;
• Financial projections.

Apart from these, there are other aspects of a home based bakery business plan to consider. Nonetheless, even those mentioned can form the basis for a reliable plan to grow your business.

The importance of a baking business plan

Mainly, it is created to help the owner or entrepreneur think through all the important aspects of the business, identify potential challenges, and come up with a strategy for success. A well-crafted bakery business plan can also serve as a roadmap for the company's growth and development. It can also be used to secure funding if required. Let’s take a closer look at three main reasons why you shouldn’t overlook it.

Reason 1: it provides clarity and focus

Composing a bakery business plan helps you clarify your goals and objectives, as well as focus your efforts toward achieving them. With a good plan in place, you will have enough room to think critically and strategically in several major areas:

• About the market, you are targeting;
• About the products you are offering;
• About the resources, you need to succeed.

After all, a clear understanding of your baking business's mission and vision can help guide your decisions and actions. Not to mention how helpful it is in ensuring that you stay on track toward achieving your goals.

Reason 2: it identifies potential challenges and solutions

Starting a bakery business plan helps you identify potential obstacles that you may face so that you can minimize any surprises down the track.

The plan allows you to anticipate problems even before they arise and develop strategies for dealing with them.

Overall, identifying future challenges and solutions can help you in several ways. 

• Improve customer satisfaction. Proactively addressing issues before they become problems is highly appreciated by the users. For example, your business plan may include predictions of customer complaints or reactions related to long wait times during peak hours. Hence, it creates room for you to develop an improvement plan for staffing or queue management. By doing so, you can improve the overall customer experience and boost loyalty.
• Minimize risks. Facing potential challenges and working on how to resolve them, you can greatly minimize the risks associated with running a bakery business. For example, a detailed plan can help you identify a potential shortage of certain ingredients and help to secure alternative sources or adjust your menu. By doing so, you can avoid the negative impact that a sudden disruption in your supply chain might have on your business.
• Reduce costs. Developing solutions to potential challenges can also help you reduce costs associated with running your bakery business. For example, you may identify an opportunity to reduce waste and save money by adjusting your inventory management system. By doing so, you can lower your operating expenses and increase your profitability. 

Reason 3: it attracts funding

The financial aspect is another pillar in every business’s foundation. A well-written and detailed bakery business plan can be a powerful tool for attracting funding from investors or lenders. Why? Because it demonstrates 

• That you have done your research,
• That you have a clear understanding of your market and competition,
• That you have a solid plan for achieving your goals with outlined objectives.

On the contrary, it would be difficult to attract any investment if your business is experimental, and it 

• Looks unreliable and doesn’t present something new to the industry,
• Has no clear plan for growth and expansion,
• May not stand the test of time,
• Has too many open issues.

Lastly, learning how to write a home-based bakery business plan sample can also help you estimate the amount of funding you will need. With its help, you can figure out the minimum you need to start the business, an optimal amount to support and run it, etc.

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Now, let’s shift our focus to the essential steps you need to take to create a reliable and cohesive business plan. For even more convenience, we’ll organise them in points and tables. 

Steps to Create a Baking Business Plan

Now that we walked through the importance of the business plan, let’s take a look at the steps to create it. We’ll carefully review each of them and see how they correlate to the entire home based bakery business plan template. 

Executive Summary

This step is the very beginning of the documentation to start a baking business plan. It should be first in the list but written last once you complete all the next parts, just like the contents of a book. 

The purpose of the executive summary is to provide a concise overview of your plan. It highlights the most important information about your business. It consists of the steps we’ll review next.

Business Description

This part of the plan provides a detailed description of your bakery business. Normally, it includes numerous parts. Here are the main ones.

Products and services

In a home based bakery business plan sample, you describe in detail the goods and other products or services you will offer to customers. Let’s take a closer look at the most important aspects of your offering.

Menu/Product List

Obviously, you need to provide a detailed list of the products you plan to offer, including cakes, cupcakes, cookies, pastries, tarts, and any other baked goods. You should include descriptions of each product and flavor variations, including ingredients, portion sizes, weight, and pricing.

Describe the packaging you will use for your baked goods. It includes any branding or labeling. You should also include information about the materials you will use, such as paper or plastic, along with any environmental considerations.

Special Orders 

Describe any special order services you will offer, such as occasion-related customized cakes, cookies, or catering. Make sure to include details about the ordering process, pricing, delivery, and lead times. 

Other Services

This section is dedicated to additional things you plan to offer. It may include baking workshops, cooking classes, recipe books, delivery services, etc. Include all relevant details: scheduling, pricing, and any special equipment or supplies required.

When describing your products and services, it's important to be as specific as possible so customers will rarely have additional questions. Use descriptive language to help the reader imagine the taste, texture, and appearance of your baked goods. You should also consider the preferences of your target market and ensure that your products and services meet their needs and expectations. 

Market Analysis

Each home based bakery business plan template has to include a space for market analysis. Conducting a deep market analysis can help you solve many upcoming issues in the future. Here is what a good analysis includes.

Customer Analysis

Despite being mentioned in previous steps, customer analysis deserves a separate paragraph as it’s an important aspect of the plan. While analysing your potential clients, pay attention to the following details:

• Demographics. To understand users’ needs, you need to turn to their demographics: average income, age, location, etc. This information will help you tailor your products, services, and marketing strategies to their specific needs and preferences.
• Preferences and needs. After analyzing the market, you may start seeing patterns. For instance, some goods are trending upward while some aren’t popular at all. You can highlight the most popular tastes and textures and correlate them to the price. 
• Customer Behavior. Studying their buying behavior can reveal lots of useful things. For example, when are peak hours, how often they purchase baked goods, how much they approximately spend, etc.
• Customer Loyalty. Offering exceptional customer service and even promotions around special events can help you build a solid customer base.

Competitors Analysis

Having a clear understanding of your rivals and their position in the market is crucial to driving your own business to success. In this matter, CakerHQ allows you to monitor competitors at a glance. Apart from your listing, there are dozens of others. Hence, you can easily compare your offerings with theirs and outline your advantages and disadvantages for further optimisation.  

If you wonder where to start your competitor's analysis, there are several checkpoints. First off, in a sample of a home baking business plan, you should draw a line between direct and indirect competitors. 

Direct competitors 

This category represents baking businesses that are located in the same area as you. They offer similar products, services, and goods. They could be other small baking businesses, bakeries, and cafes. They must be your primary focus, as they’re likely to convert your customers. 

Indirect competitors 

This category is called indirect for a reason. It consists of businesses that are slightly different from yours. They may offer different products or target other niches. However, if you find out that your target audience is interested in their offering, you must consider them. Examples of these are supermarkets and bakeries.

After analysing who they are, you will need to shift focus to how they work. You can start by analyzing their strengths and weaknesses and the ways your business is different from theirs.

Realizing competitors’ positives and negatives and differences to your own business and offerings, you can start to build your competitive advantage. In other words, it’s what sets your bakery apart from your competitors. This may include factors such as unique products, high-quality ingredients, or personalized customer service.

Management Plan

The management plan’s mission is to outline all possible processes your business operations consist of. Essentially, it should include:

A management team

Make sure you identify key personnel’s goals and responsibilities in managing your business. This includes their qualifications, salary, experience, etc. If you run your own business, describe your own responsibilities and activities that you delegate or plan to outsource.

Organisational structure

Outline your business structurally, including the roles and responsibilities of each member of the management team. This will help ensure that everyone understands their position and responsibilities within the company.

Personnel plan 

Identify the number of employees you plan to hire and their roles and responsibilities. This should include both full-time and part-time employees.

Staff training and development

Outline your plans for staff training to ensure that all employees are adequately trained and equipped to provide high-quality products and services.

Compensation and benefits 

Define your compensation and benefits package for your employees. This should include salaries, bonuses, health insurance, retirement plans, and other benefits.

Management policies and procedures 

Define your management policies and procedures, including your code of conduct, employment policies, safety policies, and other relevant documentation.

Operation plan

This plan is intended to outline the day-to-day operations baking venture. It typically consists of several aspects. 

• Production process. Describes your production processes, including the steps involved in baking, packaging, and storing your products. 
• Inventory management. Outlines how you will manage your inventory, including how you will track ingredients, supplies, and finished products. This should also include information about how you will manage waste and spoilage to minimize costs and maximize profitability.
• Quality control. Defines your quality control processes to ensure that your products consistently meet high standards. This may include regular testing, inspections, and employee training.
• Operating procedures. Outlines your hours of operation, staffing requirements, and customer service policies. 
• Suppliers and vendors. Contains a detailed description of those who supply ingredients, packaging materials, and other supplies needed to run your business. 

Logistics plan

In the business plan for bakery, this section contains details about everything related to the distribution of your products. Traditionally, here are the four most important logistical aspects you should consider. 

Transportation

This section outlines how you will transport your products to customers. This may include in-house selling, takeaway or customer collection, or shipping by courier services.

Explain how you will package your products, including the materials used and the design. Your packaging should protect your products and be visually appealing to your customers.

Distribution channels

Define how you will sell your products to customers. This may include selling directly to consumers at your business premises, through online ordering, or through third-party retailers. 

Order fulfillment 

Outline your order fulfillment process, including how customers will place orders, how you will process and fill those orders, and how you will handle returns or customer complaints.

Marketing plan

To build a thriving business, you need to advertise it regularly and invest in marketing. Accordingly, the marketing plan has a significant place in your cake making business plan. Here’s what it usually consists of.

Value proposition 

Your baking business' value proposition is all about making it unique compared to your competitors. By crafting a strong value proposition and using effective marketing strategies, you can easily communicate your unique qualities right to your target audience. 

Branding and messaging

Putting effort into your business’ name, tagline, logo, and key messages can make a gigantic impact on attracting customers both online and in person. It helps you to build a recognizable brand and ensures consistent communication across all your marketing platforms.

Marketing channels

You can think of setting up social media accounts on the most popular platforms like Instagram or Facebook to showcase your delicious treats. Sending out weekly newsletters through email marketing is another great way to reach your customers. By the way, hundreds of customers are searching for you on CakerHQ!

Promotions and advertising

Make sure you think about the exciting promotions and advertising tactics you’ll use to boost your sales. You can try offering discounts, coupons, and loyalty programs to entice your customers. It’s also important to include how you’ll measure the success of your marketing efforts. You must create a clear understanding of what works best for your business and what needs improvements.

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Financial plan

Lastly, the finishing part of your plan is financial management. It may look quite overwhelming, but we will break it down into several manageable steps. 

Revenue projections 

Estimate your revenue for the first year. Break it down by product or service, and be sure to base your projections on realistic assumptions. Consider factors like seasonality, overall competition, and market trends to get a clear picture.

The cost of goods sold 

The COGS metric is commonly used in business finance. It includes the initial inventory and purchases during a specific period minus the amount at the end of that period. You'll also consider the costs of ingredients, labor, packaging, and other production-related expenses.

Operating expenses

Having a clear vision of your operating expenses is essential. These include things like rent, utilities, marketing, insurance, and other overhead costs. Estimate these expenses for the first year and break them down on a monthly or quarterly basis. 

It’s important to set your prices to reflect your hard work, experience, and costs associated with your delicious bakes.

Profit and loss statement

The profit/loss statement is a valuable metric that displays your revenue, COGS, and operating expenses. It helps you calculate your net profit or loss for each month or quarter. This statement will be quite handy in predicting your business growth in the long run.

Break-even analysis 

This analysis is crucial to ensure you stay afloat in the market. It helps you determine the minimum amount of revenue you need to generate in order to cover your costs, break even, and start earning profits. It's a vital analysis to keep your business afloat.

In conclusion, we hope we have provided detailed insight into the bakery business plan composition. It is an essential step in starting and growing a successful venture, no matter how big or small you start out, and it can be helpful in numerous ways. 

It provides a roadmap for your business's future and helps you make informed decisions about marketing, operations, and investment. 

By following the steps outlined in this article, you can create a comprehensive home baking business plan that sets you up for success in the competitive yet highly rewarding baking industry. Remember to regularly review and update your plan as your business evolves to ensure that you stay on track and achieve your goals. 

Lastly, feel free to join our thriving community of baking business owners. Not only do we provide a reliable platform for your growth, but also simplify all the administration processes, including bookings, order placing, payments, communication with clients, marketing, and more.   

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Frequently Asked Questions

We are here to help you with most frequently questions.

How much time does starting a bakery business plan take?

Writing a comprehensive plan for a baking business can take anywhere from several hours to a few weeks. The time frame depends on factors such as business size, level of detail, and market research. It may be time-consuming, but a thorough plan is crucial for setting up a successful business.

How to make a business plan for a home based baking business?

To create a home based baking business plan, consider local laws and regulations, develop a marketing strategy, and create a financial strategy with revenue projections. Don't forget to include information about your products and target customers, as well as the equipment and staffing needed for operations and financial plan

What should be included in the home cake baking services business plan?

A bakery business plan should include an executive summary, business description, market, customer, and competitor analyses, management, operation, logistics, marketing, and financial plans. The level of detail and length can vary based on the bakery's size and goals.

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Bakery Business Plan Template

Used 6,356 times

You're ready to go out on your own to share your fabulous breads and pastries with the world. This free bakery business plan template is just what you need to get going.

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Bakery Business Plan

Executive summary.

In order to fulfill our vision we will require [ AMOUNT] in capital, which will be allocated roughly according to the following table:

If we are fully capitalized, we hope to be profitable by [TIME PERIOD] .

Marketing plan

Our Clientele

Our Competition

Our Specific Marketing Plan

Our products

Production Description

Operations plan

Our Suppliers

Our Personnel

Expense Projection

We expect our monthly outlay of expenses to approximate to the following:

Description

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Useful resources

• Featured templates
• Sales proposals
• NDA agreements
• Operating agreements
• Service agreements
• Sales documents
• Marketing proposals
• Rental and lease agreement
• Quote templates

Opening a Bakery?

How to write a bakery business plan (fast), step by step (actionable) case study.

Think you are the next great baker? Well, you’ll need a business plan! That’s why we have put together a detailed Bakery Business Plan example for you to take ideas from.

There’s only one thing whose aroma is sweeter than the cakes you’ve baked or the bread you’ve made… and that’s the smell of a successful business!

Bottom line…

If you want to get baking with this business plan…

#1 Bakery Business Plan Sample – Executive Summary Section

The Executive Summary section of your business plan outlines what your business does. It summarizes the company’s key points and introduces the rest of the business plan content.

The Executive Summary is incredibly important because it might be the only section a busy person reads; so it should always include:

• Who the company is – In the Company section of the executive summary, we’ve talked about the key staff member and the expertise and experience he brings to the table, as well as the proposed project and the opportunities it will bring to the local area.
• What we sell – What the problem is and how The Bakery Company plans to solve the problem.
• Target Market – Who your customers are going to be.

So, if you’re looking at starting a bakery business or simply looking for a cake shop business plan, this guide will give you all the ideas you need to write a complete business plan for bakery products.

Check it out and feel free to lift anything you want.

The #Executive #Summary outlines what your business does, summarizes your key points, and prepares investors for the rest of your #businessplan. It’s vital you provide a solid case for your business idea, which is why your #executive #summary is so important! Tweet

Executive Summary

The Bakery Company is a cake and sugar sculpture company based in Chicago. Owned and run by innovative baking and sugarcraft entrepreneur Ali Baker, the company offers a wide range of products and services to a broad client base. Ali is looking to develop more products in her range, and to introduce these into retail outlets and other suppliers nationwide. She also plans to take the entire brand nationwide over the next few years, and is seeking investment to help her do this.

What We Sell

In addition to couture cake designs, The Bakery Company offers a wide range of delicious and innovative products that are unique to the brand – and which are currently not being offered elsewhere in the region. There are other cake companies in the region, but Ali is looking at ways to diversify so that her brand stands out. One of these ways is to specialize in unique sugar sculpting designs that offer a lifelike effect, rather than the cute and cartoon-based offerings of her competitors. This approach has been a real success with clients, and more and more orders are been received thanks to this innovative approach to sugar sculpting.

The Bakery Company also offers baking and sugarcraft workshops for adults and children – and these are proving a real hit, especially given the appeal of baking right now thanks to the many bakery shows on TV.

Who We Sell To

The Bakery Company has a broad and very diverse range of clients. This really is a company that has something for everybody and which appeals to all ages.

From the bride and groom looking for a stunning bespoke couture wedding cake to the stressed parent looking for a unique and fun party idea for their child, Bakery Company can offer it all. Corporate clients also make up a large part of the client base, and Ali is exploring more services to offer corporate clients, such as sugarcraft workshops as teambuilding events.

From a product perspective, The Bakery Company’s Pick ‘n’ Mix Brownies make up a large proportion of sales, and are always sold out at wedding fairs and other marketing events. This is an area that Ali would really like to push out to mass market, and which has real potential to be taken on board by retailers nationwide.

#2 Bakery Business Plan Company Profile Section

The Company Profile section in this small bakery business plan sample can also be identified as your Company Description.

If it’s well written, your potential investors will find easy to understand your business model, your mission and goals, and how it’s going to meet the needs of your target market.

So whether it’s a cupcake business plan, an online bakery business plan, or pastry shop business plan you’re after, we hope you find the following information useful.

For the purpose of this business plan, we’ve included the following:

• The Company and Management Team
• Location and Facilities

Mission Statement

Company Overview

The Bakery Company was launched in 2014 by Ali Baker. The company is run from Ali’s home and there are currently no other locations in operation, although venues have been hired in the past for various workshops.

The address of the business is: Ali’s House, Chicago, USA.

The business is currently operating from a home kitchen and office, and is owned and run by Ali Baker. Ali is the sole Managing Director, but there are plans to employ more staff as the business grows.

Management Team

Ali is currently the sole member of the management team at The Bakery Company, and is responsible for all business operations. As a highly skilled professional, she is passionate about the business and in building a household name that is synonymous with innovation, quality and creative flair.

Ali has a deep interest in the science behind baking and sugar sculpture, as well as the art of baking. Her expertise as a patisserie professional, sugar artist, chocolatier, chef and food writer, has helped her get the company noticed and build a strong reputation. She also ensures she keeps up to date with the latest food industry trends so that she can stay ahead of her competition and meet market needs.

Creativity is strong at The Bakery Company, and assistance may be needed from a marketing and business growth perspective. Ali is hoping that any potential investor will be able to act as a mentor and give advice on how best to move the business forward.

As the business grows, Ali will be looking to recruit more staff.

Locations and Facilities

At present, The Bakery Company operates solely from Ali’s home kitchen and office. This works well at present, and also saves on costs associated with renting accommodation. However, as the business grows, alternative accommodation will be sought. This may be in the form of a dedicated business premises, or the company may look to secure space within hospitality venues such as hotels.

Tagline: Mouthwatering masterpieces enrapturing palates and capturing the imagination.

Mission Statement: A passion for creativity and innovation is at the heart of everything we do here at The Bakery Company. Our mission is to provide our customers with uniquely designed, lovingly crafted cakes for all of life’s celebrations. Our artisans are dedicated to providing a simple, friendly and affordable way to order cakes, learn new skills and enjoy delicious handmade treats. From the gloriously traditional to the utterly mindblowing, there is no limit to our creativity and commitment.

A #mission #statement is a short statement of an organization's purpose and shows the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation. Tweet

Company History

The Bakery Company first opened its oven doors in 2014, and since then owner and entrepreneur, Ali Baker has taken the company from strength to strength. What started out as a casual home business supplying cakes to friends, has now grown to a thriving business supplying services and products to a wealth of different clients including brides, parents, children and corporate clients.

The company is operated from, and has always been operated from Ali’s home, but once the company grows, the plan will be to move to larger, permanent premises. At present, with the current volume of orders, the home kitchen and office set up is sufficient, not to mention cost effective.

Since The Bakery Company first started, more products and services have been added, including:

• Wedding cakes Celebration cakes Corporate cakes
• Cupcakes and Pick ‘n’ Mix Brownies
• Sugar Sculpture workshops for adults and children

Ali has also invested in good quality branding and design for the company, and this will really help the company to stand out and attract attention.

#3 Bakery Business Plan Products & Services Section

The Products and Services section needs to be much more than simply a list of what your new business is going to provide.

This is especially important if you’re looking to get funding; so make sure that you showcase the value, the quality, and the benefits of your business.

Ask yourself:

• What sets you apart from your competitors?
• Why would people buy from you as opposed to your competitors?

Here’s the example.

Products and Services

The Bakery Company produces a wide range of homemade, hand crafted and bespoke products, and runs a number of workshops for children and adults. Below is a detailed summary of each product and service, and the benefits it provides to customers.

Bakery and Sugar Confectionery

Celebration Cakes

• Wedding Cakes including Bakery Company Signature Cakes and Tiered Wedding Couture Cake Sculptures
• Pick ‘n’ Mix Brownie Bites (sold by the bag) Triple Chocolate Brownie Bites (sold by the bag)
• Double Chocolate Chip Brownie Slab (sold by the bag) Big Bonkers Brownie (sold by the bag and box)

Pick ‘n’ Mix Wedding Brownie Bars

• Wonka Wedding Bar – A great way to keep the children amused at weddings. Everything is supplied including a Willy Wonka style cart serving  scrumptious brownie bites, four sweet options, and one topping sauce.
• Cake Cocktail Bar – Who says kids get all the fun? The cake cocktail bar offers guests six different candy/chocolate shard options, two toppings, and The Bakery Company’s delicious gluten-free brownie.

The Bakery Company Workshops

• Children’s Cake Decorating And Sugar Workshops – What a great alternative for a children’s’ birthday party! The Bakery Company supplies all the fun, and each child gets to take home their wonderful creations as well as the obligatory party bag and their own Bakery Company character.
• Adult Sugar Sculpture Workshops – At the sugar sculpture workshops, The Bakery Company shares techniques and useful tips on how to make life-like cake.

Competitors

The baking and confectionery industries are fiercely competitive, and right now even more so thanks to the baking revolution that has taken the US by storm. Ali is very aware of the competition in the marketplace which is why she has taken her brand in a completely different direction, offering customers something unique and not available from any of her competitors.

Her lifelike sugar sculptures are extremely popular with customers looking for an alternative to cute or cartoon-like character sculptures. As a result, Ali is earning quite a reputation for this style, and plans to develop this technique further. Flavor is something else that really stands out, and Ali experiments with many exciting flavor combinations to give her clients the wow factor and a unique twist on more traditional options. All products are made at home using the freshest ingredients that are selected from local suppliers wherever possible.

The company also offers a gluten-free range which Ali is very passionate about, being gluten-free herself. She has worked hard to develop a gluten-free cake that doesn’t compromise on taste or texture – a common problem with other gluten-free products.

Product & Service Development

Product development is something very close to Ali’s heart, and she will be looking to develop more innovative and creative products in the future.

A new website will also be launched shortly and will detail all products currently available. Customers will be able to place orders, make bookings and send enquiries.

Sourcing and Fulfillment

The Bakery Company uses a number of suppliers that are used on a regular basis. There is no agreement in place with one supplier. Due to the variety of products that are required by the business, it would be quite difficult to source from one supplier. However, Ali does review price points to ensure she is getting ingredients and sundry items at a competitive price, and many items are bought at wholesale price.

The company relies on the skills of Ali Baker to carry the brand forward and provide products and services. At present the only technology in use is a home computer on which invoicing, social media updates and other administrative business tasks are carried out. The company will also rely on a website and social media channels to attract new business and connect with customers and followers.

Intellectual Property

The Bakery Company is in the process of being trademarked.

#4 Bakery Business Plan Situation & Market Analysis Section

This section of a business plan is very often glossed over because more often than not, the business owner is so involved within their business, that it doesn’t occur to them that they can learn something by writing this down!

This section is one of the most important aspects of your Bakery marketing plan.

In fact, it defines where you currently are in terms of your market, product, customers, and competition. It also allows you to look at both internal and external factors and to review and document the strengths and weaknesses of your business, as well as identifying any opportunities and threats within your marketplace.

It can include:

Market Overview

Market needs, market trends, market growth, industry analysis, key customers.

• SWOT analysis

Here’s our example.

Your #Market #Analysis section of a business plan is one of the most important aspects of your marketing plan. It defines where you are currently in terms of your market, product, customer, and competition. Check out this example in our #Bakery #BusinessPlan! Tweet

Target Market

One of the great things about The Bakery Company is that it really offers something for everyone. Ali has really taken the time to think her target market through, and there is no demographic she has left out.

Catering for all ages from 4 upwards, the company targets and sells to mostly women, but appeals to anybody looking for unique cakes, a fun twist, or an enriching learning experience.

While the younger generation love children’s cakes, cupcakes, pick ‘n’ mix brownies and the brownie bar, older customers are more interested in sophisticated cake creations, cakes for corporate events and learning how to make their own stunning cakes and sculptures at home.

Cake couture trends are very much affected in the same way as fashion couture trends. Right now, hand painted cakes are very much the “in” thing, but this will change in time. Ali prides herself on keeping up with the latest trends, and of course catering to the unique needs of her target audience.

The Bakery Company solves a wide range of problems that customers experience. Here are just some of those solutions:

• Customers often lack the skills and time to create a cake to the same high standards of a professional couture cake. For that reason, they will approach The Bakery Company for a bespoke design that is sophisticated, authentic and which they would be able to find anywhere else.
• Creativity and innovation is very strong within the company, and everything produced is a unique design. Ali does not offer basic, “off the shelf” style cakes and instead focuses on the extraordinary and ground breaking.
• The company produces some of the best gluten-free products. Being gluten-free herself, Ali has mastered the perfect recipe without compromising on taste or texture. This is a huge market to leverage and more products will be introduced as the company expands.
• Workshops are offered at an extremely high standard and structured to make people believe that anything is possible with a little imagination and time.

Other similar companies in the region simply aren’t offering this bespoke, high-quality service or such a diverse range of innovative products. Consumers are always looking for that little something extra that is going to make their event stand out from the crowd and be remembered for all the right reasons. It is these little innovative details that Ali strives to offer.

As mentioned previously in the business plan, this is an industry that never stays the same, and trends are driven very much by consumer demand. As a result, Ali constantly reviews and evaluates the products and services she offers to ensure she stays ahead of the competition and provides what her customers want.

In order to keep up with the latest market trends, she has also signed up with a number of newsletters from industry leaders and innovators and has joined a number of organizations including The Chicago Weddings consortium, The Sugar Craft Guild, Cake Decor and Made in Chicago. These organizations often hold local and national events at which The Bakery Company can exhibit.

Social media can also often highlight shifts in market trends and a close eye will be kept on the company’s social media channels to see what people are talking about, and what is hot right now.

Celebration cakes have been an integral part of Western life since the 19th century. Today, no party or wedding would be complete without a stunning baked creation taking center stage. Since hit TV show, ‘The Chicago Bake Off’ aired in 2012, the US has been taken over by something of a baking revelation, and this is great news for businesses like The Bakery Company. Ali wants to take this baking fever one step further, offering customers sophisticated and innovative cakes that are one-of-a-kind couture creations, and something that simply cannot be found elsewhere.

Consumers no longer want supermarket birthday cakes, or a traditional wedding cake. Today, it is about the wow factor and creating cakes that are showstoppers all on their own. It is this passion that The Bakery Company wants to promote, in both its products and its workshops, as well as showing that the only limit is the imagination when it comes to creating a stunning cake, brownie or sugar sculpture.

The Bakery Company spans a number of different industries, including hospitality, wedding supplies, catering, and art and education.

Reputation is extremely important for the company as many orders will be placed through word of mouth and repeat business. The website will also play a big part in the marketing strategy of the business as will social media and competition entries. Ali has already taken part in a number of competitions, and plans to enter more in the future as this is great exposure for the brand.

Buying decisions will also be very much visually led, and it is therefore important that the business focuses on showcasing products in the most professional and detailed way possible. Professional photography and graphic design will therefore be very important for the marketing process.

As mentioned previously, key customers for the business will span all age groups, and will come from all walks of life. Below are details of each consumer group, and how the company plans to market to these individuals.

Parents and Children

The company offers a range of products and services aimed at parents and children. Birthday parties, brownie bars and workshops are just some of the options available.

Wedding Couples

Every wedding needs a cake, and that cake should be a Bakery Company cake. The company offers a fully bespoke service, plus a range of economically priced, high-quality wedding cakes for couples on a budget.

Corporate Event Planners

The company will target corporate clients to take up products and services such as celebration cakes, the brownie bar – and also workshops as the perfect team-building event.

Party Planners

All parties deserve a splendid celebration cake. From birthdays to anniversaries and graduations to retirement parties, the Bakery Company can provide beautiful bespoke cakes of the very highest standard.

SWOT Analysis

Passion, innovation and creativity are at the heart of the business, and this shows in every product and service the company offers. Unique baked products are often hard to find, and Ali focuses on offering customers life-like sculptures, stunning cakes and techniques they may have not seen before. She is also very enthusiastic to pass on her skills to others, so that they can enjoy the thrill and pride of making something absolutely fantastic for themselves.

She has also taken the time to create a gluten-free cake and brownie recipe that tastes amazing: many recipes lack the right taste and texture, and this was a problem Ali was very committed to solving. The gluten-free market is huge, and with the right marketing and approach, it is a market that could really be capitalized on.

Ali has also invested in the best equipment and in herself by taking a number of highly sought after and respected training courses.

The Bakery Company doesn’t make “cheap” or “boring” cakes. They focus on the extraordinary and unique, rather than run of the mill cakes that can be found elsewhere. In doing so, there is a slight risk of turning potential customers away, but Ali believes this will only serve to strengthen her brand and reputation as a high-class, fairly-priced cake couture company.

The Bakery Company is new in a very competitive industry. They need to ensure they stand out, and continue to develop the brand.

Opportunities

There are many opportunities open to the brand thanks to the many services and products they supply.

Ali would like to explore working with organizations such as hotels and retail stores, and feel that the brand will really appeal to the mass market, especially the Pick ‘n’ Mix Brownie selection. She will also keep a close eye on her competitors to identify any gaps in the market and customer needs that she can fulfil.

The Bakery Company’s biggest threat is the competition. Ali must ensure that the company continues to keep high standards and build its reputation as one of the best couture baking companies around.

#5 Bakery Business Plan Marketing Strategy & Implementation Section

The marketing strategy section of your business plan describes who your customers are going to be and how you plan to communicate to them the services or goods you are offering.

If your potential customers are not made aware of your business, you are not going to stay in business for very long!

Defining a marketing strategy in your business plan highlights your understanding and knowledge and emphasizes what makes your business concept compelling. It also outlines how you plan to attract and maintain a customer/client base.

• How are you planning to advertise to your market?
• What is your competitive edge?
• What is your sales strategy?

So, without further ado…

Let’s look at the following example.

Strategy and Implementation

With so many products and services on offer at The Bakery Company, the company really does solve a lot of life’s little problems. From finding a wedding cake with wow factor to igniting a creative spark at one of their workshops, The Bakery Company fulfils many different needs for many different people.

Competitors offer similar products and services, but do not focus on innovative and bespoke creations as passionately as The Bakery Company. This difference will be communicated through social media, the website, video marketing and other mediums to attract customers to the brand, especially those looking for something a little unique and extra special.

The Bakery Company offers customers stunning cakes and confectionery at a very fair price that reflects the quality of the finished product. Customers looking for cakes that are more “masterpiece” than “mediocre” will be much happier to pay more, confident that their cake is unique to them and their special event.

Pricing structure is as follows:

• Pick ‘n’ Mix Brownie Bites – Quantity/price = $2.05 per 110g bag
• Triple Chocolate Brownie Bites (Gluten Free) – Quantity/Price = $1.65 per 100g bag
• Double Chocolate Chip Brownie slab – Quantity/Price = $1.55 per 100g bag
• Big Bonkers Brownie – Quantity/price = $5.95 per 600g bag/box

Brownie & Cake Bars

Wonka Wedding Bar: $69.95 – 25 children =$2.79 per child

For the children. Alternative to party bags/wedding entertainer. A eye catching modern twist – Willy Wonka style cart serving 4 different sweet options, 1 topping sauce, and brownie bites.

$20.00 per bar & set up. Time taken 1 hr.

Cake Cocktail Bar: $225.00 for 100 guests

6 different candy/chocolate shard choices, 2 topping choices (raspberry marmalade/chocolate ketchup/strawberry salsa & gluten free brownie bites.

$80.00 per bar & set up. Time taken 2 hrs.

Celebration cakes (round): 6″ basic $30.00 – 8″ basic $40.00 – 10″ basic $55.00 –12″ basic $70.00

Simple designs added start from $10.00/elaborate designs added start from $25.00 per design on cake.

Cake sculpture toppings start from $25.00.

Sugar flowers start from $1.00 per small flower – $2.00 per medium individual flower – $3.00 per large individual flower.

Wedding Cakes

• Tiered Bakery Company Signature These are cakes offered for couples on a smaller budget, yet still want something beautiful & delicious. – per Signature cake – $40-$55 – Time taken per cake = 90 minutes
• Tiered couture cakes – prices starting from $200.00 – Costing from $40.00 – Time taken from 90 minutes upwards
• Tiered cakes – prices start from $325.00 – Costing from $70.00 – Time taken from 90 minutes upwards
• Tiered cakes – prices start from $495.00 – Costing from $100.00 – Time taken from 2hrs upwards
• Tiered cakes – prices start from $625.00 – Costing from $125.00 – Time taken from 2 hrs upwards

Cake Sculptures

Small: Prices start from $95.00 Large – prices start from $295.00

Costing from: $5.00 (small) – $20 (large)

Children’s Cake decorating/sugar sculpting classes

$ 5.95 for 1 hr class. 8 – 12 children per class = $47.60 – $71.40 per hour.

Each child is provided with a party bag. Each bag contains: 1 Bakery Company cupcake recipe. 1 cupcake/sugar sculpture. 1 Bakery Company cake character card profile. 1 balloon.

As mentioned in previous sections, much of the business will be secured by word of mouth and repeat orders. The Bakery Company will also look to maximize the potential of online marketing, using their website and social media to attract more business.

Professional photography, video marketing, and online tutorials are just some of the ways that can be used to promote the company visually. The Bakery Company will also look at publishing as much shareable content as possible to attract more likes, followers, retweets and pins.

Blogging is something very close to Ali’s heart, and this is a great way to share fun ideas, tips, recipes, event news, competitions and special offers. The company will also make full use of social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Instagram. Once they have more video content, they will also start a YouTube channel. Live streaming over Facebook might be fun too! This is a new service that Facebook has introduced and opens lots of opportunities for customers to bake along while at home, à la Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay.

Email marketing may be something to look into, but the company really wants to stay away from spam emails as this will only cheapen the brand. However, they will be following up with existing customers thanking them as well as sharing special promotions with them. This will be on an opt-in basis, so as to stick to Google best practices for email marketing. The company may also explore Pay-Per-Click marketing and retargeting at a later date, and this will be handled by a marketing agency on their behalf.

Printed marketing materials will also be useful at events the compny attends.

Distribution

The Bakery Company will offer its services through its website and also face to face. Many of the services the company provides include set up at a venue, or delivery of workshops and classes. They will also offer products – such as their brownie line – through the website.

They also plan to approach retailers such as supermarkets and boutique stores to sell their range of Pick ‘n’ Mix Brownies. They will need to work on a bakery marketing plan, and how best to make, package and distribute their products. This is something that Ali is exploring now.

Milestones will be set once investment is in place. Ali would like to work closely with any investor on a mentor basis, and to receive guidance on the best direction to take the business, and how to plan milestones in the most logical way.

Competitive Edge

As mentioned previously, the company is operating in an extremely competitive market. Thanks to the creative genius of Ali and her passion for all things sweet, the company offers sophisticated, bespoke and also fun creations that simply cannot be found elsewhere. It is this passion and dedication that Ali will be looking to promote across the organization as it grows, by employing skilled and dedicated staff and ensuring standards remain high.

Reputation is everything and most business will be received via word of mouth and through repeat orders.

Unlike many other competing companies, Ali also has a product that is viable to distribute to the mass market.

Promotional Activity

The Bakery Company will use a variety of methods to market to customers including their website, social media, attending events, printed advertising, and promotional offers.

Discounts may be offered to previous customers and during potentially slower times, such as the winter wedding season.

Social media will also be very important to the brand, and the company will be communicating on a personal level with customers and followers to gain trust and get them to order and try out products.

Sales Administration

The Bakery Company wants customers to come back time and time again and to shout from the rooftops what a great experience they had with the company – whether they placed an order for a cake or booked one of the workshops. A friendly and personal approach is incredibly important, as is following up with customers to ensure they were delighted with the service offered.

The company will always reach out to customers after a sale, whether it’s with a business card or thank you email, and encourage positive feedback through social media channels. It’s that personal touch that will bring customers back to The Bakery Company over and over.

Sales will be made through the website, social media channels, word of mouth, and repeat orders. The compay will also aim to secure orders at promotional events and exhibitions. In time, they may start using mailing lists to email customers regularly with details of special events, tutorials and any other information they may be interested in.

Strategic Alliances

Not applicable.

Exit Strategy

#6 bakery business financial section.

Ensuring that you have a COMPLETE financial plan within your business plan will DOUBLE your chances of investment as well as the future growth of your business.

A lot of small businesses don’t have a financial plan and it’s essential to your long-term success and business growth.

We’ve listed here the key elements you need to have in a successful financial section:

• Initial Start Up Expenses – Especially if this is a start-up idea, it’s essential that you have a description of what you need for investment purposes.
• Sales Forecast – It’s essential to have an estimate of your monthly sales revenue as well as annual. This helps you understand your business and plan out any marketing and growth strategies.
• Direct cost of sales – Measures the amount of cash the company will have to spend to produce the goods or services sold by the company. The direct cost of sales only includes the expenses directly associated to production.
• Profit and Loss Forecast – This is a statement summarizing the revenues, costs and expenses incurred during a specific period.
• Balance Sheet – This is the financial position of the company and states its assets, liabilities and owners’ equity at a particular point in time. It illustrates the business’s net worth.
• Loan Repayment – This shows the lender or potential investor the act of paying back any monies.

So… Are you ready to look at some figures?

Three Year Projection

Three Year Projection​

Looking for more inspiration? Why not take a look through our other business plan examples:

• Ecommerce Business Plan sample
• Bar & Restaurant Business Plan sample
• Medical Center Business Plan sample
• Outdoor Activity Business Plan sample
• Advertising Agency Business Plan sample
• Boutique Business Plan sample
• Real Estate Business Plan sample

Additional Resources:

To help you even further in creating your business plan, why not check out the following articles? They will help you write the perfect plan to impress:

• 40 Common Business Plan Mistakes to Avoid when Writing your Plan
• What is a Business plan and why do you need one?
• How to Write a Business Proposal in 5 Easy Steps
• 10 FREE Business Name Generator Tools to find your perfect business name

Now, over to you...

Now I’d love to hear from you:

Are you going to start up your own bakery business or have you recently written a business plan?

We’d love to know what you thought about our Bakery business plan example.

Feel free to leave any comments below and I will be sure to answer them as soon as they come in.

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How To Start a Bakery: Steps and a Sample Business Plan

• Templates & Guides

Want to take your culinary skills to the next level, move out of your home kitchen, and learn how to start a bakery? Good for you!

While the process is really just that simple, there are a number of practical steps you can take to get your new business heading in the right direction — including writing your very own bakery business plan.

In this article, we discuss some of the best things you can do before you even open your doors that can help make your new bakery a success.

Table of contents

How to start a bakery, sample bakery business plan.

1) Gain practical experience

Learning how to start a bakery and writing a bakery business plan are two very unique and specialized activities. Unlike, say, mowing lawns, owning and operating a successful bakery takes a lot of knowledge, experience, and skill.

Before you bake your first loaf for profit, get as much practical experience as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to work in a bakery or similar niche business.

As you do, pay attention to more than just the baking. Note how the business manages its employees , markets its products, provides customer service , and develops its business model.

Learning about these foundational business activities in addition to the bread-baking process can give your new endeavor the best chance for success.

2) Research laws that apply to the food service industry

Starting a food service business of any kind comes with a long list of laws, rules, and guidelines. Whether you want to open a bakery, a coffee shop , a cafe , or a restaurant , you’re going to have to operate under some very high standards.

Before you invest any money in the project, be sure to research the laws that apply to the food service industry in your area and get professional legal counsel.

For example, you may discover that your state requires you to use stainless steel appliances and cookware. Those items can be expensive to purchase and may affect how you spend the rest of your startup capital.

You may even discover that operating a bakery isn’t for you. And that’s OK. If that’s the case, at least you found out before you committed yourself to the project. View it as a learning experience, and use that information to find the business that’s right for you.

3) Consider a specialty

At first, you may be tempted to offer any and all baked goods under the sun — cakes, cookies, muffins, cupcakes, pies, breads, turnovers, and other sweet treats.

But jumping all in at first can make it more difficult to keep your bakery business in the black. Instead, consider a specialty for your business, and write it into your bakery business plan.

Narrowing down what you offer to one or two items — e.g., breads and croissants — can help in two distinct ways:

• It may allow you to focus on making your products the best they can be (rather than spreading your efforts too thin)
• It may help your customers recognize exactly what your business is and give you a boost in carving out market share among your competitors

As you’ll see in the sample bakery business plan later on in this article, All I Want Is Bread chose to focus on bread products so they can refine their recipes and make the best products possible.

4) Get to know your target market

Another important step in the process of starting a bakery is getting to know your customer base (i.e., your target market).

Doing so can provide valuable insight into key variables such as:

• Demand for your baked goods
• Customer demographics (i.e., statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it)
• How your market will react to your baked goods
• Appropriate price points

Getting to know your target market can also help you identify factors that influence your potential customers’ buying decisions, allowing you to give them what they want and need.

5) Create a bakery business plan

Starting a small business of any kind depends, in large part, on the planning you do before the doors open. You can accomplish a large portion of that planning by creating a bakery business plan for your new endeavor.

Doing so will give you a roadmap or guidebook that can help you deal with the everyday activity of your business that, ultimately, makes it a success.

We’ve included a brief sample bakery business plan below, but you can learn more about everything that goes into this important document by reading these articles from the Sling blog:

• How To Start a Coffee Shop: Step-by-Step Coffee Shop Business Plan

Food Truck Business Plan: The Beginner’s Guide For Success

Here we provide a sample bakery business plan to get you started. We’ve included four of the most important sections in this sample, but there are many other sections you can include in your own document.

Consider this example a “jumping off” point. Use the information as you see fit, customize it to your business, and produce the best bakery business plan possible.

For more information on writing a business plan for a food service establishment, check out this article from the Sling blog: Restaurant Business Plan: What To Include, Plus 8 Examples.

Executive summary

All I Want Is Bread is a new bakery venture that aims to introduce the French boulangerie experience into the local market.

All I Want Is Bread will offer traditional baked goods, including baguettes, pain de campagne, sourdoughs, croissants, pain au chocolat, pain au lait, and turnovers.

All I Want Is Bread will make these baked goods from scratch with high-quality, fresh, locally sourced, sustainable ingredients. This commitment to quality ingredients and sustainable practices will set us apart from the competition

Company description

All I Want Is Bread will be run by Buffy Summers (owner) and Willow Rosenburg (general manager). Ms. Summers owns and operates several businesses in the area, and Ms. Rosenburg has 10 years’ experience managing a boulangerie in Paris, France.

All I Want Is Bread will be located in Sunnydale’s vibrant downtown district within walking distance to office buildings, restaurants, and residential neighborhoods.

All I Want Is Bread will be run as a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) between Ms. Summers and Ms. Rosenburg.

It is our goal to provide quality bread to the workers, residents, and restaurants in our area. To help achieve that goal, we will also offer cafe-style seating, coffee and other beverages, and free WiFi to encourage customers to stay.

Market analysis

Bakery statistics according to [Source]:

• Industry net worth: $5 billion
• Growth rate: 3% per year over the next five years

As you can see, the bakery industry is a competitive niche, but there are also a number of excellent opportunities for new businesses within that niche.

We believe the key to success is to offer high-quality products, excellent customer service, and a competitive price .

Our target market includes bread lovers of all ages as well as restaurants that want to offer their customers and employees high-quality baked goods made from locally sourced, sustainable ingredients.

Financial Plan

We project that All I Want Is Bread will generate $1.5 million in its first year of operation with a 3% increase each year thereafter for the next three years.

We will achieve these numbers by targeting a 30% share of the Sunnydale bakery market and expect a gross profit margin of 4% in our first year of operation.

Workforce management and your bakery business plan

As you think about how your new company will run, be sure to include workforce management in your business plan.

More specifically, describe the technology you’ll use to help guide and direct your team — whether it’s one person, 10 people, or 100 people.

The Sling app , for example, includes a long list of tools to help make your workforce management as efficient and productive as possible, including:

• Advanced employee scheduling
• Integrated time clock
• Comprehensive communication
• Flexible task management
• And much more

Try Sling for free today to experience firsthand how the software can help you bring your bakery business plan to life.

Then, for more business management resources, help scheduling your employees, and tips for leading a successful team, visit GetSling.com today.

See Here For Last Updated Dates: Link

This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for specific advice.

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Bakery Business Plan

Ready to turn your love for baking baked goods into a successful business?

To ensure that your business endeavor happens to be a flourishing one, write a business plan specifically crafted for your unique bakery business.

From helping you finalize the bakery location to evaluating the financial position of your business- a detailed plan uncovers every detail essential to kickstart a successful bakery business.

Writing a business plan can get complicated. With this step-by-step guide, you will have all the information essential to write a bakery business plan . Also, download our free bakery business plan template and modify it to fit your needs.

Ready to dive in? Let’s get started.

Key Takeaways

• Conduct a detailed industry analysis of the bakery market to understand market trends, target market, and the growth scope of your business.
• Outline the business goals and devise a business strategy that is in line with your bakery’s branding image.
• Analyze the competitive landscape of your business and identify local businesses that will offer direct and indirect competition to your business.
• Make calculations, assumptions, and projections to form key reports such as income statement, balance sheet, Cash Flow statement, and Break-even analysis.
• Determine the operations of your bakery business by outlining the procedures, processes, and equipment required to kickstart the business.
• Determine the baked goods and services you will sell through your bakery business.

Why is a bakery business plan important?

A business plan helps achieve your business objectives by creating a roadmap that will guide your bakery business in a strategic direction. An actionable well-drafted plan offers an in-depth view of your business idea and are a few benefits you must know:

• A business plan instills clarity in your business idea. All the ideas that were messed up in your mind start getting a clear point of view once you start writing a plan.
• A business plan is your checklist to understand what different aspects of the business need- the resources, equipment, manpower, licenses, etc.
• It helps crystallize your business vision and what it aims to achieve in the bakery market.
• A business plan optimizes the bakery operations and brings down the operating expenses by ensuring the resourceful allocation of bakery resources.
• A plan evaluates the financial aspects and viability of your bakery idea before you actually invest money in the business.

And, of course, a well-crafted plan will get you essential funds to get started in the bakery market. Moving forward, let’s craft a spectacular plan for your bakery business.

How to Write a Bakery Business Plan: A Complete Guide

From writing an executive summary to creating your financial plan- let’s decode the key elements of writing a business plan.

1. Get a business plan template

Before you start writing a business plan, consider getting a sample template to simplify the entire plan writing process.

A lot of information goes into writing a comprehensive business plan. Addressing all the key components in brief details is a challenging task.

However, by using a template, you can add structure to your plan. Not only that, it will help you organize the information clearly in a cohesive manner. With appropriate prompts, you will know exactly what to write in each section.

We know you would start searching for a template. Well, the Upmetrics business planning template is perfectly relevant and suited for your bakery business. It’s intuitive, modern, and available for free download.

Need Assistance Writing a Bakery Business Plan?

Get Upmetrics’ business plan template, import data directly into the editor, and start editing using Upmetrics AI Assistant.

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2. Write an executive summary

The executive summary is a concise description of your entire bakery business plan. It highlights the key findings and entices the reader to delve further into your business plan. So make sure to keep it interesting.

A well-drafted executive summary includes an answer to every question, a potential investor might have.

For instance,

• What is the core objective of your bakery business?
• What are the pain points of your target customers and what solutions can you offer?
• What type of baked goods will you offer?
• What is your target market?
• What is your marketing strategy?
• What are the financial highlights of your bakery business?

As you start writing, remember that the executive summary should summarize the plan and not your business idea.

Lastly, fit your compelling summary description in 1-2 pages.

3. Conduct a competitive and market analysis

The market analysis section paints a clear picture of your ideal target market, bakery industry trends, and your competitors in the market. In a way, this section is your chance to validate the potential success of your bakery shop.

The market analysis section of your bakery plan must include:

Market share, growth potential, and industry trends

Identify your targeted available market (TAM) through thorough market research and determine your share in the bakery market. Analyze the emerging trends in the bakery market and assess your growth potential as a retail bakery.

Understanding of the target market 

Who will be your potential customer at a bakery shop?

It gets much easier to succeed in the market when you have a clear understanding of who your target customers are.

In this section of customer analysis, you will create a buyer’s persona of your ideal customer by understanding their psychographic and demographic details.

Competitor analysis

This is an equally important part of the market study, where you evaluate the position and competitive landscape of your bakery shop.

Begin by identifying your top competitors and evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats against other bakeries. Establish your competitive edge and show the potential investors that your business stands a promising opportunity in the competitive market.

Want to Perform Competitive Analysis for your Business?

Discover your competition’s secrets effortlessly with our user-friendly and Free Competitor Analysis Generator!

4. Prepare a company overview

The company overview section of a bakery’s business plan is a brief description of your bakery business concept, its legal structure, location, and value proposition.

Be creative and write a compelling section that can propel the readers’ interest in your business idea.

Wondering what to include in your bakery’s company overview section? Let’s check:

• Type of bakery business: retail bakery, specialty bakery, cloud bakery, mobile bakery, etc.
• Business structure: Sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership LLC, corporation, etc.
• Mission statement
• Value proposition
• Quantifiable business goals and milestones
• History and background of the bakery, if applicable
• Partnership and ownership structure
• Name of owners/ partners
• Operating hours
• Service style

Drill down to details and make this section an engaging read.

5. Describe your products and services

After describing your bakery structure and mission statement in the previous section, you will now outline the product and service offerings of your bakery shop.

As a bakery business, you may sell a variety of delicious baked goods such as pastries, cakes, fresh bread, cookies, tarts, pies, donuts, sweet buns, etc. Add this to your product section and also non-baked goods such as savory snacks, coffee, etc, if it’s on your menu offering.

Specifically mention, if you will have products for special diets, i.e. gluten-free, keto-friendly, sugar-free, vegan baked goods, etc.

6. Bakery store design and layout

An effective bakery business plan must include a blueprint of your bakery shop’s layout and design to demonstrate the bakery’s concept practically to the readers.

Mention your bakery size and the space allocated for the back of the house and front of the house operations. Also, explain how the proposed layout will increase the efficiency of your business operations in great detail.

In this section, you will also talk about the decor and theme that will create a warm ambiance for your target audience. Keep in mind that the decor should reflect the branding image you want to create in your target market.

Offer an immersive experience to the readers while explaining this section.

7. Prepare a bakery marketing plan

The marketing plan offers a detailed outlook of marketing strategies you will use to market and promote your bakery shop. Consider it as a roadmap that will guide you in building a brand of sustainable value in the market.

So how do you build a perfect marketing plan?

Begin by identifying the marketing channels and different types of digital marketing campaigns that will work best for your potential customers. Now, allocate the monthly budget to different marketing activities. Lastly, devise a marketing strategy for each channel with a clear plan of action.

Here are a few marketing strategies that are popularly used by successful bakery businesses:

• Social media platforms for brand development
• Email marketing for promotional offers
• Video content such as easy baking recipes, tips, tricks, etc
• Online workshops and live sessions
• Influencer marketing
• Tasting events and sampling
• Customer testimonials

Now detail all your plans in this section and show your investors that you have a solid way to establish your business’s popularity in its target market.

8. Outline your organizational structure

In this section of your bakery business plan, you introduce the management team and employees at your shop. Also, highlight the organizational structure and hierarchy of employees in the organization.

Begin by introducing the owners and their role in your organization. Highlight their experience in the bakery industry and the key skills that can benefit the business.

Introduce your talented baker and their role in recipe development and standardization. Show their experience in the baking field and prove their asset worthiness.

Draw a clear flowchart depicting the flow of authority and responsibility in your bakery business. It is your chance to show the investors that you have a team and knack to take this business on a successful path.

9. Create a logistics and operational plan

The operations plan of your bakery business plan is a strategic document highlighting the processes, procedures, and resources needed to efficiently run your bakery shop.

A well-planned operations plan is like a business manual that has answers to all the questions one might have while running a bakery shop.

Wondering what to add to your operations plan? Well try to include answers to the following questions to make it detailed and comprehensive:

• Physical facilities: What will be your bakery location to produce bakery goods? Will you serve customers from that location or a different shop? Are you planning to sell the bakery goods online?
• Suppliers: Where will you get the raw materials and supplies for producing bakery goods? Who will supply non-bakery items like scones, sandwiches, and savory snacks?
• Inventory: Where will you store the raw material and ingredients? What will be the shelf life of these ingredients? How will you manage the stock levels? What are the minimum thresholds for different items and how long it takes to stock them?
• Production: Who will bake the goods? How long is the process? Will everything be made fresh or in batches to be stored for a few days? Will there be recipe cost cards for each menu item? How will you meet an unexpected spike in demand?
• Bakery Equipment: What type of bakery equipment will you require? Will there be a POS system at your store? What other technologies will you use? How will you take online orders?

The amount of precision here will help you regulate your operating expenses once the bakery starts serving the customers. Proper planning is advisable at this stage.

10. Create a Financial Plan

And now comes the most exciting part for investors- a financial plan. The figures in financial statements are helpful in determining the viability of your business idea. So this section holds a considerable weightage in terms of whether you will get funding or not.

To ensure you create a comprehensive financial plan, including financial projections for these key components:

• Cost of starting a bakery shop
• Sales forecast
• Revenue projection
• Operating expenses
• Pricing strategy
• Income statement/ Profit & Loss statement
• Break-even analysis
• Cash flow statement
• Balance sheet
• Business ratios

In this section, you will also evaluate your funding requirements and identify the funding sources for your business. i.e. bank loans, SBA-guaranteed loans, angel investors, and personal savings.

Having realistic financial projections at hand will help you realize your financial goals while evaluating the sustainability of your bakery business.

However, creating the projections for all these elements from scratch can get overwhelming. Additionally,  you also need to work on visuals and graphs to add impact and clarity to your plan.

Well, there is an easy way. Create your plan with the Upmetrics Financial forecasting tool . This tool will generate key reports and visuals that can be easily downloaded and added to your plan.

We hope this sample plan will guide you in writing a perfect business plan. Now, let’s move forward and check the industry trends ruling the bakery world.

Bakery Industry Highlights 2023

Before you open a bakery, here are some latest highlights from the bakery industry, you may find helpful:

• Bakery market size: The US bakery market size was valued at $99.47 billion dollars in 2023. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 2.08% between 2023-2028.
• Retail Bakeries: According to IBIS World , there are 8,780 independent retail bakery shops in the US.
• Bakery consumption: In 2022, Americans consumed 8.6 billion kilograms of cake and pastry goods, a sizable amount compared to other countries.
• Bakery trends: There is a growing trend of providing healthier alternatives, i.e. gluten-free baked goods in the bakery market. The organic and gluten-free baked goods market grew by 2.45% in 2022.
• Market Saturation: 55% of commercial bakery revenue in the US is generated by 3 major players- Grupo Bimbo, Flower Foods, and Campbell Soup.
• Specialty bakery market: The US Specialty bakery market share is expected to grow by 10.54 billion US dollars by 2026.

Download a sample Bakery business plan

Need help writing your own bakery business plan? Well, download our bakery business plan pdf and write your plan section-by-section with utmost precision.

Upmetrics templates are perfectly suited for entrepreneurs who need a little help to kickstart their business planning. Import the data into the editor and start planning.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

Write your business plan with Upmetrics

Optimize your business planning with Upmetrics .

With more than 400+ business plan examples , we offer invaluable guidance to help you write a cohesive business plan.

Whether you are writing a business plan to strategically grow your business or attract investors, Upmetrics’ invaluable resources like AI assistance, forecasting tools, and step-by-step guides will serve you perfectly.

Let’s bake a recipe for success together.

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Frequently asked questions, what should be included in a bakery business plan.

An effective bakery business plan must include:

• Executive summary
• Business overview
• Industry and competitors analysis
• Bakery goods and services
• Bakery design and layout
• Operations plan
• Key management team
• Financial bakery plan

How long should my bakery business plan be?

A bakery business plan should be not more than 15-20 pages including graphs, visuals, and charts. You are likely to lose the interest of investors with a lengthy plan. However, keeping it extremely short is also not favorable, as it would not cover important details. So try using crisp content for your business plan.

Can a bakery business plan template help in setting clear business objectives and goals?

Absolutely yes. A template offers a variety of prompts that will help you to write each section clearly and cohesively. Moreover, you will get a variety of bakery-specific examples that shall help in clearly determining your goals and objectives.

Do I need to have financial projections in my bakery business plan?

Yes, financial projections are important to assess the viability and profitability of your business idea. If you are planning to seek investor funds, this section is of crucial importance. Investors will evaluate the financial section and determine whether to invest or not.

Can I use the same bakery business plan template for different locations?

Yes, you can. However, you need to alter the content of your business plan for different locations and target markets by making specific modifications.

About the Author

Vinay Kevadiya

Vinay Kevadiya is the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, the #1 business planning software. His ultimate goal with Upmetrics is to revolutionize how entrepreneurs create, manage, and execute their business plans. He enjoys sharing his insights on business planning and other relevant topics through his articles and blog posts. Read more

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How to Create a Home Bakery Business Plan (Template Included!)

by Aurelia Lambrechts | Home Baking Biz Tips

How to Create a Home Bakery Business Plan

I’m beyond excited that you’ve decided to take action to read this post because your life could be starting on a NEW path from here on out…

Deciding to create your Home Bakery Business Plan means that you are actively responding to your dream. Today your dream has officially started to become a reality.

Acknowledging that you are a baker at heart is extremely difficult in our corporate world. It’s frowned upon to pursue a career that’s RICH in CREATIVITY and IMAGINATION.

So I just want to give you a room full of applause for being brave enough to start accepting who you were made to be.

We are Home Bakers and the world needs us.

The world needs the comfort, joy and hope that pure home baking brings.

And that’s why I’ve made this post and  FREE Workbook to help you create your own Home Bakery Business Plan !

I want to give you the jump start you need to start your Home Bakery.

Creating your business plan will give you a lot of insight into yourself, your ideal clients, what you want to bake and why you want to do it.

Most importantly it will help you figure out where you want to go …

Because “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

By outlining where you want your business to go, you have a much greater chance at success because you will always be aware of where you are heading.

Your free Home Bakery Business Plan workbook is waiting for you in my free Resource Library. Follow this blue link to access the library and then download & print out your workbook 👉 Access your free workbook here!

Awesome! Let’s get stared!

YOUR HOME BAKERY BUSINESS PLAN

Step #1: your executive summary.

It might sound super intimidating to create an “executive summary”, but don’t worry 🙂 An executive summary is super easy to create through answering a few questions. It’s basically just about WHAT you do and WHY you do it…

IF YOU HAVEN’T STARTED YOUR HOME BAKERY YET:

You might not be able to a nswer all of the questions below yet, BUT you can share your research and all the steps you’re taking to ensure your business’s success.

1. YOUR MISSION STATEMENT

What is the purpose of your Home Bakery? What value do you add to your city/town? Why did you start your Home Bakery Business?

2. HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR GROWTH

3. your products & services.

Write down a short summary of the products & services your Home Bakery will offer in order to make your business profitable.

4. YOUR GOALS FOR YOUR HOME BAKERY

Time to dream, my friend! What are your goals for your Home Bakery?

What do you want your business to look like 1 year from now, 2 years from now and 5 years from now?

STEP #2: Your Home Bakery Business Description

Now we are going to dive into your business culture & brand which is something that EVERY business is either working on or has figured out.

1. WHAT SETS YOUR HOME BAKERY APART?

Why should someone buy from YOUR Home Bakery above others? What makes your business different?

2. THE PEOPLE YOU SERVE

Every business needs clients in order to survive and thrive! So it’s super important to define WHO your business’s ideal clients are:

How old are they? What do they do for a living? What do they care about most? Why have they come to your baking business? How can you help them? What are their goals & aspirations? What are their hobbies? Which things make them happy?

3. YOUR HOME BAKERY’S CULTURE & BRAND

Another way to think of “culture & brand” is simply to see it as your business’s personality & looks; it’s the first impression that clients get from your Home Bakery Business…

When people interact with your Home Bakery, what do you want them to feel? How would you describe your Home Bakery’s Personality? What purpose does your Home Bakery serve?

4. YOUR HOME BAKERY’S ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Organizational Structure simply refers to the legal definition of your business. If you are the only person working in your Home Bakery – which is pretty much always the case – then you are automatically defined as a “ sole proprietor “.

Even if there’s one other person in your business who cleans for you or helps you out with deliveries or admin, etc. you are still a sole proprietor.

You’ll include this organizational structure definition when submitting your tax information each year.

Related: Home Bakery Certificates, Licenses and Insurance

If you decide to expand your Home Bakery in the future, you can do the necessary research to figure out whether you should register your business as a Partnership, CC, LLC, etc.

The motivation for changing your business to one of these other organizational structures is for financial reasons. If your business should go bankrupt while you are a sole proprietor, then YOU are by definition bankrupt as well.

But if you have an LLC, CC, etc. then only your business will be bankrupt and not YOU as a person.

This may sound like super scary stuff, but you don’t need to worry AT ALL, okay? Home Bakeries typically do not shuffle around tens of thousands of dollars each day so our risk is SIGNIFICANTLY lower.

We also typically do not buy like 5 company cars and employ 20 people and stuff like that.

Our Home Bakeries are small and safe 🙂

STEP #3: Competitor Analysis

Before launching your Home Bakery business, I encourage you to THOROUGHLY research your largest competitors (popular bakeries with staff) and other Home Bakeries in your city, town and suburb.

Doing this is important because it will enable you to make more informed decisions and chart your own, unique course moving forward that serves a REAL need in your community and beyond.

Be mindful when you’re researching & analyzing your competitors though…

It’s SO EASY to be swooped up in a wave of comparison when you look at other Bakeries; their high skill level, beautiful website & branding, EPIC social media…

Guard your heart and analyze with your HEAD. Be HAPPY for them because they’ve worked super hard to get to where they are.

They may be your competitors, but they are NOT your enemies.

ALWAYS BE HAPPY FOR OTHER BAKERIES. BAKERS SUPPORT EACH OTHER AND THEIR SUCCESS. PERIOD.

See these businesses as inspiration for where YOU could be in a few months! It’s 100% possible!! By completing this home bakery business plan you’re taking a GIANT LEAP towards your own success!

Related: 5 Mindsets Shifts of Successful Home Bakery Owners

Also, I know all too well how tempting it is to just copy their cakes, their designs, their website design etc., but doing this will ONLY DAMAGE YOUR BUSINESS!!

They became successful by doing THEIR own thing and so will you if you do YOUR own thing.

Now, when doing your competitor analysis, you’ll want to take the following steps:

1. IDENTIFY YOUR COMPETITORS

Now you’re going to list of all of your competitors. Which other Bakeries bake goods that are similar to yours (or similar to what you want to bake in the future)?

Write down the Bakery’s name with links to their website & social media:

The Free Home Bakery Business Plan Workbook has very handy spaces for you to easily fill in 👉 Access your free workbook here!

If you’re brand new to the Home Bakery scene, then you may not know who your competitors are.

Here are a few ways to find them:

• Search on Google: This is the easiest way to find your competitors. Search phrases like “delicious cake [your town/city]”. You can even get more specific by searching for “home bakery [your suburb]” which will give you results for Home Bakeries closest to you. I encourage you to click through to look at all result pages from 1 – 4 to get a more thorough scope (and because Home Bakeries mostly not listed first).
• Search on Social Media: Social media – especially Instagram – is THE place to be for businesses today. Bakeries that are worthy competitors will have social media accounts. Search hashtags in Instagram like #[your city]cakes or #[your city]food. Or simply search for “Home Bakery [your city]”.

2. STRATEGIES & GOALS OF YOUR COMPETITORS

Cool, now that we know who your main competitors are we need to find out what their angle is for reaching their ideal clients – because you can learn from them and also readjust your own strategy accordingly.

What are they promoting? (Their products, services, lifestyles, feelings…)

What strategies do your competitors have in common ? (Like Instagram lives, Facebook lives, certain types of promotions or giveaways…)

Which things  set each competitor apart from the others on your list? (What do they do differently than all the rest?)

What goals do your competitors have? (I know you’re not a mind reader, but what assumptions can you make from analyzing their business? Sometimes Bakeries will even share their goals on their about pages on their websites…)

3. PRICE RANGE OF YOUR COMPETITORS

Check out the prices of all of your competitors for each different type of bake they sell. This will give you a better idea of what your future clients will be comfortable paying for baked goods.

4. STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF YOUR COMPETITORS

Now that you’ve analysed each of your competitor’s websites, social media, products & services, you should have a pretty good idea of:

who they are, what they are doing, why they are doing it, who they are doing it for and where they are going with their business…

Let’s dig a little deeper. Use the next section on the home bakery business plan workbook to make a list of some of their strengths and weaknesses.

What are they super good at and what can they improve on or change completely ?

STEP #4: Audience & Market Research

Back in STEP #2 of your home bakery business plan we identified and described your Home Bakery’s ideal client. Go ahead and look back to refresh your memory because now we’re going to dig deeper…

1. SURVEY YOUR AUDIENCE

Surveys are hands-down the best way to gather priceless insights into the minds and needs of the people you want to serve – especially because surveys are anonymous.

People tend to share their TRUE desires and thoughts a lot easier when they have the security of anonymity.

Create your own FREE survey on SurveyMonkey or Typeform and then share it with your audience. I recommend sharing it with your email contacts, your social media, local family & friends.

You don’t want your survey to be too long – because then people will be too lazy to answer the questions! Trust me… Keep it to 3 questions 😉

What are the best 3 questions you can ask your audience to understand their needs & desires better?

2. HOW CAN YOU HELP/SERVE YOUR AUDIENCE?

In Step #2 we covered your brand’s personality and in Step 3 we defined the brand personality of your Competitors. With this information in mind, here are a few questions for you…

How can YOU, as a unique human being & baker, help your audience?

What makes your Home Bakery different from all other Bakeries (big & small)?

In what ways can your Home Bakery’s unique qualities benefit your ideal client that’s different from all the other Bakeries in your town/city & suburb?

STEP #5: Your Home Bakery’s Products & Services

And now it’s time for the BEST part – your baked goods & services! Yay! 😄

These are the 2 things that will bring profit to your Home Bakery , so it’s super important to put thought, heart and proper planning into this…

1. YOUR MENU – THE BAKED GOODS YOU WILL OFFER

Which products do your ideal clients need? Refer back to the answers from your survey to get good ideas.

HOWEVER, I do believe that people are aware of what they want, but they aren’t necessarily always aware of what they NEED. So trust your own talents and passion on this as well…

2. THE BAKED GOODS YOU WILL NOT OFFER

Defining what you DON’T bake is just as important as defining what you DO bake. Which products will NOT be on your menu and why?

I’ve also got an amazing free guide for you in my Home Bakery Resource Library to help you find the perfect niche for your business. Join the library to get the free guide on finding your niche.

3. YOUR SERVICES – WHAT YOU WILL OFFER

Which services do your ideal clients need? Refer back to the answers from your survey to get good ideas.

Will you offer delivery? Are you considering to offer customization? Will you offer on-site catering or set-ups? Will you offer rental services for cake stands etc.? Get specific here.

4. THE SERVICES YOU WILL NOT OFFER

Defining which services you DON’T offer is just as important as defining which services you DO offer. Which services will you not offer and why?

5. HOW ARE YOUR PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIFFERENT?

Refer back to your competitor research: How are your products & services different from theirs? Is there anything you could add that would make your menu & services feel even more valuable than theirs?

This sure is a LOT of information to keep track of! You can easily have it all on hand by downloading your free Home Bakery Business Plan Workbook 👉 Access your free workbook here!

STEP #6: Your Home Bakery’s Sales & Marketing Strategy

  Wow! Look how far you’ve come already – I’m so proud of you for putting in all this hard work to create your Home Bakery’s Business Plan…

It’s the first and biggest step you can take to start turning your Home Bakery dreams into a reality! 😄

The last step in your home bakery business plan is working out your sales & marketing strategy. Without a strategy there’s nothing you can do besides “waiting and hoping” your business will grow. A strategy makes it all REAL! Let’s dive in!

1. HOW WILL YOU MARKET YOUR BUSINESS & BAKES?

Take some time to consider which platforms and methods you want to use to market your business and baked goods…

Do you want to use a Facebook group, page or ads? Are there some local Food Markets you’d like to trade at? Do you have some contacts and connections who love your baked goods you can ask to “spread the word” via email or with a flyer?

RELATED: The 4 Essentials of Home Bakery Marketing

Once you’ve decided on some methods, research them online for better results.

2. YOUR MARKETING SCHEDULE

It’s important to set a day and time aside for yourself to spend on Marketing – otherwise life will find a way of soaking up all of your time! When will it be?

Related: How to Plan your Home Bakery’s Work Schedule

3. LAUNCHING YOUR HOME BAKERY (IF YOU’RE NEW)

If you haven’t started your Home Bakery yet, it will help to create a “launch” strategy for your business. How will your business officially come into existence?

What are some things you can do to launch your Home Bakery with a bang and get people excited about what you bake?

4. HOW WILL YOU GROW YOUR HOME BAKERY?

You’ve made it to the last question! Congrats! This last section is about coming up with strategies to grow your business.

This doesn’t necessarily mean employing staff and moving to a larger facility (or opening a retail bakery) – unless that’s what you desire.  This last section pertains more to how you will grow your profits and client base.

Will you outsource certain tasks like cleaning, branding, photography, deliveries, social media management, website building, etc.?

Will you expand your menu & services?

How will you look after your clients to keep them coming back?

Think about things that you can do to keep your Home Bakery Business growing and thriving.

And that concludes your Home Bakery Business Plan my friend! I’m so proud of you for taking action and taking this first step towards starting your baking business 😄

Now you might be wondering, what happens next?

The perfect next step for you is to check out my Ultimate Guide to Starting a Part-Time or Full-Time Home Bakery.

What info are you looking for?

Hi! I’m Aurelia 🙂

I help home bakers create a Home Bakery Business with consistent orders so they never have to worry about a stable income.

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Starting a home-based baking business: A step-by-step guide

Posted on Published: February 8, 2024  - Last updated: March 22, 2024

Do you dream of quitting your day job and starting a home-based baking business?

Have your friends been telling you to start charging for your treats? Consider this your sign. It’s time to get serious about starting your home-based bakery!

In this article, I’m going to go over everything you need to know to help you decide if starting a home bakery business is right for you.

What is the best way to sell home-baked goods?

Have you noticed how many bakers are selling homemade treats right now? You can start a business selling all types of baked goods, from cakes and bread to brownies and cookies.

The first thing to do is start planning, and that’s what I’m going to help you with today.

Owning your own business can be a fun side hustle or a rewarding full-time job. Let’s take some time now to learn as much as you can about the entire process so that you can decide if it’s right for you. I’ve helped hundreds of bakers start a home bakery business they love. In this article, I’ll be answering some of their most asked questions.

Selling from your home kitchen is a cottage foods business

Cottage foods are food items made in your home and sold to the public. Cottage foods laws are the name of laws you need to follow for selling food prepared in your home kitchen. The only way to know what you can sell in your home bakery is to learn about cottage food laws.

Cottage food laws differ state by state

Each state has different rules for operating a cottage foods business. They tell you where you can sell and what ingredients you can use. They also tell you how you need to label your ingredients. Some states even limit how much you can earn in a cottage food business.

Understand your state’s hazardous food list

Hazardous foods are those that can make someone sick. They require temperature control to be safe. Cottage bakers are not allowed to use ingredients that could make someone sick.

Some examples of hazardous foods are:

• Meat -most states don’t allow meat of any kind
• Dairy -uncooked milk or cream in frosting
• Cheese -cheese in bread, or cream cheese in frosting
• Canned salsa and pickles -because of the Ph content
• Custard-filled items -like pumpkin pies

Taking the time to get your home bakery license is a must if you are serious about owning your own bakery business.

For more help learning about cottage foods laws and setting up a legal home bakery, click here.

Do I need a business license to start a home-based baking business?

Some areas require you to lave a license to operate a cottage bakery, and other areas of the country do not have any requirements. You should find out the home baking business requirements for your area  before making any other plans.

Being a licensed, legal cottage foods bakery is important. It will help you stand out from the other bakers and ensure that you can continue doing what you love for years to come!

If you’re not ready to learn about your licensing requirements, you should not sell your baked goods. You can still bake for fun and practice but give your treats away to friends and family for feedback.

What is the total cost of starting home bakeries?

Everybody has a different start-up experience. Starting a home bakery is far less expensive than you might think.

Some home bakery start-up expenses you may have are:

• Permits and licenses
• Courses that your state requires
• Registration fee’s
• Insurance (sometimes optional)
• Ingredient storage
• Equipment and supplies
• Courses or groups you decide to join

Do home-based bakeries need a business plan?

A business plan will help you have direction with your new business. It will guide you through the stages of starting your new business and steer you in the right direction.

It’s a great way to think through the details and key elements of how you want your business to go.

Writing a business plan is not as hard as you think. It will need you to do a bit of planning and research. You will use that research to stand out in your market and gain more customers once you are up and running.

There is no “wrong” way to write a business plan. Think about what your business will be like in the future and fill in the details of how you plan to make that happen.

Can I operate a home-based baking business as a sole proprietor?

For many people, the answer to this question depends on your state’s regulations. A sole proprietorship is someone who owns an unincorporated business by themselves. As a sole proprietor, you are responsible for your business debts and liabilities. An LLC or limited liability company is another option. It is a business structure that shields members from the responsibility of the LLC. For me, I was able to form my home bakery LLC for only $49 plus state fees.

Choosing a business name for your home-based baking business

Naming your bakery is a big undertaking and only you will know the best name for your baking business. Here are a few tips to help you land the perfect business name:

• Make it easy to spell – online search is how many people will find you so your name needs to be easy to spell.
• Don’t be too specific- remember that things change as you grow your business.
• Make it unique – your name will be more memorable if it is different from other home bakeries out there.
• Make it easy to pronounce – If your name is hard to pronounce customers won’t be able to refer you.

Once you find the perfect bakery business name, you’ll need to make sure someone else isn’t already using it. Check out this blog post for links to register your name and check for any existing trademarks.

How much money can I make selling home-baked goods?

Home bakers, usually make between $200-$1000 per week. The amount that you make depends on several things. How many days per week will you bake? How much marketing will you do to promote yourself?

Do you only want to sell part-time? Would you like to avoid in-person events, pop-ups, and farmers’ markets? Bakers who are selling a few items weekly are making about $200 per week.

Would you like to operate full-time and have customers who buy from you regularly? Home bakeries who bake full-time can earn about $1000 per week.

It takes time to grow your business. One thing that helps is to find a niche. Finding your niche will lead to sales, but it doesn’t happen overnight. With a little work, you can build a business that you love.

How should I price my home-baked goods?

While it may be tempting to guess at your prices, don’t do it! Setting your prices can make or break your bakery business. Learning how to price your home-baked goods is important. Your goal should be to have a baking business that pays you money each month.

To price baked goods, follow these simple steps:

Know how much it costs you to make your recipe.

Your costs are things like how much the ingredients cost, the cost of packaging, and your labels. You’ll need to save your receipts and add up how much it costs you to make each of your menu items.

The time it takes you to prepare and package your baked goods is your labor. Include your labor costs in the selling price. This reflects the true costs that it takes to prepare your items.

Keep track of your home bakery overhead expenses

Overhead expenses are the bills that you pay to run your business. Overhead for home bakers include things like:

• fees you pay to sell at farmer’s market
• apps you pay for to help you run your baking business
• mileage on your car for delivery

Your overhead expenses are part of your prices. Every time you sell something, you make a little money for your monthly overhead costs.

Mark up your prices for profit

Once you’ve calculated all the costs to produce your items, you should mark it up for profit. Your home bakery is a business and your business should be making a profit. The amount of profit is up to you. Most bakers who are profitable are marking up their costs by 30-50%.

I encourage you to take the time to learn to cost your recipes and make sure that you are charging enough.

Here are a few of my popular pricing blog posts:

• How to price home baked goods for profit
• How to price home-made cookies
• How to price cakes and cupcakes

Where is the best place to sell my home-baked goods?

Home-based bakers have several options when it comes to selling their baked goods. Make sure you are familiar with state regulations for where you can sell.

The most common places to sell your baked goods are:

• Facebook – From your personal profile, business page, inside groups, or on The Marketplace
• Instagram – A great way to get exposure, using local hashtags to attract buyers
• Farmer’s market- Plan ahead and find one with enough foot traffic
• Vendor events – Seasonal yearly events popular in the fall and around the holidays
• From home – Host a pop-up shop from home
• Delivery to customers – Offer extras like delivery to expand your reach even more

Which products should I be offering?

Planning a bakery is fun because you get to think about all the stuff you love to bake. I’m going to ask you to do something hard now. Think about the baked goods that your future customer wants and needs.

This is the first shift from a hobby baker to a business owner. The customer’s needs are your highest priority . What can you bake that will be in high demand?

The best items for your menu are items that your customers want, priced to make you a profit.

Best things to sell in your home-based baking business

The best things to sell are menu items that solve a problem for your customers. The more you learn about what your clients need the better you can solve a problem for them. When you specialize in something specific it’s called a niche. Bakers that have a niche often have faster success with their baking businesses.

Here are some business ideas for a home bakery niche

• Healthy choice baked goods
• Cakes for celebrations
• Customizable desserts
• Giftable treats
• Gluten-free bakes
• Baking classes for kids
• Cookie delivery
• Baked Party favors

I’ve put together a free resource for home bakers with creative ideas for over 50 items to sell at farmers’ markets, events, and pre-orders. It’s a full list of the most in-demand baked goods which you can download for free right here. 

How will I get potential customers for my home bakery business?

Once you’re ready to start selling you’ll need to have customers who want to buy from you. Attracting new customers can be one of the biggest challenges for home bakers. You can find your customers in person, or online.

Here are a few ideas for connecting with customers in person:

What type of events can home bakers sell at?

• Farmer’s market
• Vendor events
• Pop up shops

Here are a few ideas for connecting with customers online:

What are the best platforms to find customers for my baking business?

• Facebook page
• Facebook groups
• A business website
• Esty (if your state allows shipping)

How important is social media for homebakers

Home bakers have more sales on Facebook than on any other social media platform. Facebook is a great place to start. You should start small and keep it simple. It’s much better to get comfortable with one social media platform so that you don’t get overwhelmed.  Once you have set up and personalized one platform, you can go on to add another.

How can I build my home bakery customer base?

Attracting new customers is a big part of running a successful home bakery business. As the old saying goes, it’s easier to keep a customer than to get a new one. Once you get a customer, you should work hard to make sure they are happy, so that they will continue to order from you for a long time to come.

A few ways to build your customer base are:

• Ask for reviews and testimonials from your current customers (this helps new customers feel confident ordering from you)
• Promote yourself locally (share your business card often)
• Get your business listed and verified on Google

What is the best way to accept payments for a home-based baking business?

Let’s get you ready to accept payments for your products. There are plenty of ways to accept payments. You’ll need to choose the method(s) that will be the most convenient for you and your customers.

Which form of payment is right for me?

• Cash – Cash is always the best because it has no fees associated with it!
• Digital Payments – When a customer transfers funds from their bank account into yours. There is often a fee for you to accept digital payments.
• Credit Cards- . Accepting credit cards means you’ll need to set up a merchant account to be able to collect payments. You will pay a fee for each transaction. It is either a flat fee per transaction and/or a small percentage of each sale.

The form of payment that you choose will depend on where and how you plan to sell. You may find it helpful to accept a few different payment methods.

Here is how payments can vary depending on where and how you sell:

• In-person – Cash, credit card, and a digital payment option
• Sending invoices ( custom orders and wholesale accounts) -Invoicing software via email.
• Pre-orders online- Digital payments

Here are a few more questions from bakers about the home-based baking business

What if there are too many homebakers in my local area.

Don’t worry that there are already too many home bakers in your area. Home baking is more than providing treats to someone. It is about the connections you will make and the community of people who want to support you. There is nobody who does things the way that you do and your baking is perfect for the right customer.

Should I offer free samples?

Free samples work well at farmer’s markets. They bring in foot traffic and help new customers try your baking. Do it if you can afford to!

What is the right equipment for my kitchen?

It depends on what you want to bake. Most bakers start with a stand mixer, several baking pans, multiple sizes of mixing bowls, doubles of all utensils, and plenty of measuring spoons and cups. It also helps to have a deep freezer and plenty of counter space.

I get a lot of people asking for my recipes, should I share them?

You can share your recipes if you want to, but you’ve worked hard to develop them and they are a part of your business. If you don’t want to share, you can say ” I can’t share this recipe, but you can look on Pinterest for something similar”

I have a family member who expects stuff for free. How should I handle this?

Let your family member know that you are starting a business by selling your baked goods and you would love to have her as a customer. If she is willing to spread the word and share reviews and testimonials on social media, tell friends, and promote your business then you might offer her a small discount.

In conclusion, there are some great reasons to start a home-based baking business!

There has never been a better time than now to start your own baking business. The start-up cost is low, and you can create your own business doing what you love. There are so many different ways that you can have a successful home bakery. Full-time or part-time, a home bakery can fit into your lifestyle.

Just be sure to take the time and learn about your state’s cottage foods laws and take care of all the permits and licenses needed to be a legally operating home bakery.

Learn to price your home-baked goods so that you can pay yourself for your hard work. Once you find out what your customers need, write a menu that is specific to your niche and market yourself as the solution to their problems. A combination of in-person selling events and pre-order selling works well when you are just starting out.

The very best part is that you get to be your own boss and do what you love.

Are you thinking of starting your own bakery? Be sure to grab my ULTIMATE Checklist to see if you have what it takes to start your home bakery business. Let me know in the comments below what you are thinking of selling in your home bakery!

Wednesday 2nd of November 2022

I’ve spent a few hours reading your info, Allyson, on articles relating to starting a home baking business. It’s so kind of you to share all of this freely. Grateful. I LOVE to bake. The image is ‘RISE’; prepare, bake, RISE. I’ve read your invaluable info several times and watched your recent ‘Sleigh…’ workshop 4 times! Grateful. I’m unemployed. I could earn my livelihood selling home baked goods. What’s stopping me from just doing it? Procrastination? Uncertainty? Fear? Failure? Maybe, but really it’s all P U F F. I’m doing it! P U F F ……. Gone! 😁 Thank you!

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How To Write a Business Plan: A Step-By-Step Guide

April 23, 2024.

No matter how unique your ideas are, launching a successful business without a well-crafted plan is tough. That’s why learning how to write a business plan is key to seeing success from the start. 

An actionable business plan helps you and potential investors understand exactly where you want to go and how to get there. And if you aren’t trying to secure funding, a lean business plan can summarize the highlights to help you in other areas. Here’s everything you need to write a business plan that clarifies your company’s vision.

Business Plan Basics

A business plan outlines the company’s products or services, how it makes money, and its customers. It should also identify the business’s long-term goals and how it’ll achieve them.

But what does a business plan look like? There’s no singular format, but most contain the following core elements:

• Executive Summary . The executive summary is a high-level summary of your business plan’s key points. Include this early in the document, but write it last so you can accurately describe what’s in it.
• Company Description . This section covers your company’s mission, leadership team, and goals. If your business has operated for several years, include a history.
• Market Analysis . This is where you’ll write out your market research. Gather data on your industry. That includes target customer segments and the current competitive landscape. This info demonstrates the viability of your business idea. 
• Product and Service Offerings . Describe your company’s offerings and what sets them apart from competitors. This is your unique value proposition.
• Marketing Plan . Outline your marketing tactics and overall strategy. Mention your plan for pricing, promoting, selling, and distributing your products. This helps investors know you have a strategy in place to grow your business. 
• Logistics and Operations Plan . After describing your products and how you plan to generate demand, lay out how you intend to drive, accept payment for, and support sales.
• Management Overview . Potential investors want to know who they’re betting on. This section provides crucial information about who’s in charge. Include their track records of success, relevant expertise, and roles and responsibilities.
• Financial Analysis and Projections . If you have them, include any historical financial details and performance metrics. This includes assets, liabilities, expenses , projected financial statements, cash flow statements, and anything else offering insights.
• Appendix . This final section is a catch-all for any miscellaneous but valuable background information. Examples might be licenses or patents.’

RELATED ARTICLE — How to Keep Track of Business Expenses

How To Create a Business Plan

With a clear understanding of these documents, it’s time to learn how to write one. Here’s how to put together a strong business plan for your company:

• Carry out a Market Analysis on target demographics, competitors, industry trends, and market.
• In the Company Description and Products and Service Offerings sections, explain what makes your offerings unique.
• Outline your Marketing Plan and sales strategy. Describe your target market and ideal customer. Include factors like geographic region, age range, and education level.
• Map out your Financial Analysis and Projections. If you’re an established business, include data like profit-and-loss statements, a balance sheet delineating your assets and liabilities, and cash flow statements or projections. If you’re still in the early stages, focus just on financial projections instead. Mention anticipated startup costs and your current cash flow.
• Your Logistics and Operations Plan explains how you’ll execute your ideas. Describe any relationships with suppliers, office space, or equipment. Make sure to mention production logistics and any shipping and fulfillment plans. This demonstrates that you understand the day-to-day operations of producing your product.
• Introduce yourself and/or your Management Team and principal hires. Emphasize past successes in related sectors and any unique expertise your staff has.
• Regardless of what order you prepare your business plan in, write the Executive Summary last. Do this by turning your market research and value proposition into tangible objectives and key milestones. This section is typically the first your readers see, so it should make them want to read more.

Be sure to get feedback from colleagues, industry contacts, and friends and family. The more eyes you get on your business plan, the less likely you are to make mistakes or leave out details.

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What Are Business Plans For?

Writing and adhering to a business plan allows you to think through every aspect of your business. This helps you clarify your vision and shows where your ideas aren’t as developed.

But business plans don’t just clarify the company’s mission and direction. Entrepreneurs hope to answer this tough question with a business plan: how to attract investors. A well-written document can instill confidence by showing how supported it is. This is the main reason many business owners create a comprehensive overview.

And investors aren’t the only ones you’re trying to impress. An inspiring business plan attracts top talent in your industry. It proves that your team is organized, knows what it wants, and has ideas for the future.

Exploring Different Types of Business Plans

Business plans can be categorized based on type and style. Let’s explore three of the most common types.

A traditional business plan is the most common. This is what lenders and investment funds want to see before making any decisions. Traditional business plans are typically long. That’s because they provide a thorough overview of your company’s abilities, finances, and prospects

If you’re not courting investors, you might prefer a lean business plan. This type of document is shorter, focusing on the highlights instead of completeness. A lean business plan is great for brainstorming or onboarding new team members with reduced time and effort. But, because they’re less comprehensive, lean business plans aren’t ideal for seeking outside investment. Investors might not see how viable your business is without the added details. 

Finally, if your organization is a nonprofit, focus on the impact you hope to make for your chosen cause, not how you’ll grow revenue. But donors may want to see a more detailed business plan before making sizable donations.

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Caveats To Watch Out For

An actionable step-by-step business plan requires a strong understanding of how it will help you reach your company’s goals. Now that you know how to start a business plan, here are some common mistakes to avoid when you start writing:

• Putting on Rose-colored Glasses . When you believe in your company and its mission, it’s easy to be too optimistic about future prospects. You might also overlook potential roadblocks. Be sure to keep one foot on the ground to avoid misrepresenting your company’s potential.
• Focusing Too Much on the Details . If your company is new or not yet established, focus on high-level strategy and vision. Save the details for when you’ve generated some actionable data.
• Setting Fuzzy Goals . Keep milestones concrete and measurable to meaningfully track progress.
• Overcomplicating . There’s nothing wrong with being comprehensive, but creating an overly intricate strategy makes it harder to execute. Keep it simple.
• Setting It in Stone . Your business plan won’t be much of a guide if you’re constantly making changes. But it’s important to move on from ineffective strategies or unachievable goals. Striking the right balance between stable ideas and flexible methods ensures your business plan is a help, not a hindrance.

5 Tips for an Effective Business Plan

Now that you know what to avoid, let’s learn some tips for making your business plan as effective as possible:

• Clearly Articulate Your Value Proposition . What unsolved problem does your company provide the solution for?
• Don’t Skimp on Market Research . A seemingly great idea won’t sell if no one is interested in buying it.
• Set Quantifiable Goals You Can Track . It’s difficult to measure progress toward vague, qualitative milestones.
• Hype up Your Team . Lenders and investors want to see that qualified personnel run your company.
• Manage Expectations . Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Surpassing your targets is impressive; falling short isn’t.

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How to Write an Online Business Plan in 2024

Written by Vanessa Petersen on July 26, 2023 Blog , Sell Online .

You’ve committed to turning your ecommerce or online business idea into something real. You want your small business to produce revenue and change the course of your life, but what’s your first step in realizing your dream? Developing a plan. If you’re not sure about how to write an online business plan, you’ve come to the right place.

One of the most essential tasks involved in starting any kind of business is to write a business plan. An online business plan won’t look that different from a traditional business plan and will include many of the same elements.

In this post, we’ll show you how to write an online business plan, including all the components and sections. We’ll also walk through how WooCommerce can help you put your plan to action and achieve your business goals.

Why write a business plan? 

Starting your own business is a great experience and something that will shape your life, fill you with self-confidence and independence, and inspire other people around you. A new business is also a serious endeavor that will take time, money, sweat, lots of decisions, and a degree of risk.

A traditional business plan template helps you document and keep track of your business goals, challenges, opportunities, and all the steps and processes involved with making your idea work. It will help you conduct thorough market research and set you up for success.

When you write a business plan, it can confirm that you’ve found the best online business to start , or provide clarity about the need to pivot.

It details all the things you will need to do in order to successfully launch and grow your business, and may include revenue projections, timelines for specific goals, concept art for products, and architectural drawings for any brick and mortar aspects of your business. 

Business plans help create a structure for your company’s development and keep you grounded in reality, focused, and not distracted by less important matters. 

If you have more than one person helping run the business, the business plan also keeps everyone unified around the same set of goals and objectives. 

Another reason to write a business plan is for situations where you are presenting your idea to someone else and asking them to invest. In that scenario, your business plan is also a sort of sales document. It makes the argument for why your business idea is so good and well-considered that an investor should want to be a part of it. 

But even if you’re self-funding your entire business — which is more common with online businesses — you still want to write the plan for the reasons given earlier.

The benefits of running an online business

Starting an online business or ecommerce store offers many of the same great benefits as any other business, but without as much risk. If you’re thinking of starting a business, here’s why an online one is a great option:

It has low startup costs

Without a storefront, you eliminate so many costs of running a business. With all the bills that come with having property — like rent, parking, furnishings and decor, etc. — there’s a much higher investment required to start a brick-and-mortar-based business. Online businesses still have startup costs, but they are much lower. 

It gives you freedom over your schedule

With an online business, you have more freedom to set your own hours, because you don’t always have to be open during the usual times. You can build your business to suit the lifestyle you want. Rearrange your time to get things done in the fastest possible way and take time off when you need it. 

You can start small

Once you have a location, it’s yours, and you have to make it work. With an online business, you can start very small, offering just a few products or even just a single service. You can more easily test the waters without making huge commitments with inventory, and other physical investments.

You can more easily pivot

If your online or ecommerce business doesn’t do as well as you expected, it’s easier to pivot and adapt to something new because you haven’t committed so much to making your original idea work. There are many business success stories where the business owner adjusted their idea after gaining some experience, and then it took off. It’s a lot easier to do that when you aren’t tied to a physical location.

But, there’s one thing online businesses have in common with every other type of business: You need a robust business plan to help guide your idea from concept to a successful reality that makes money and fulfills your dreams and goals. 

So, let’s get into business planning. 

How do I write my own online business plan?

Most formal business plans and business plan templates include seven sections, plus an executive summary. You’ll need to keep in mind who you’re writing your business plan for. If you are taking this to potential investors or will be seeking a business loan, your business plan needs to sell the idea of your business as a great investment opportunity and communicate the skills, expertise, and commitment you personally bring to the table. 

Here are the key sections of a traditional business plan format:

• Executive summary
• Company description
• Market analysis
• Organization and management
• Service and product line
• Sales and marketing plans
• Financial projections
• Funding request (if working with investors or partners)

Here’s a brief look at each step of creating an online business plan:

Draft an executive summary

In the executive summary, the first section of almost every business plan template, you’ll present your vision and focus on building excitement. If the business plan is a sales document, the executive summary is the lead. It gets the reader engaged and excited to hear more. 

Your executive summary should achieve two goals:

• Deliver the basic facts about your business
• Motivate the reader to keep going and get them excited about your idea

What facts should you include? Whatever helps the reader understand your business idea. Describe the industry and niche. Mention the target market. Briefly state the needs or problems your products and services will be solving. Touch on the potential for growth in terms of revenue and customers. 

For motivation, describe your mission statement and company values. What will set you apart from the competition? What is your value proposition as a business owner? What makes you different? Again — keep this brief. You’ll elaborate later. 

It might be a good move to write all the other sections first, then finish with the executive summary so it will be the most concise and best version of how you describe your business.

Write a company description

Here, you’ll give a brief overview of your company. What are your strengths, skills, and areas of expertise as a business owner that will position you for success? If you have a compelling story behind why you’re starting your business, you can include that too.

Conduct a SWOT analysis 

If you’re not sure where to start, consider doing a SWOT analysis , which is a diagram outlining your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

It’s a common part of many business plans and will help paint a realistic picture of what your business can achieve, and what stands in the way. You won’t include all of this in the company description, but your strengths and opportunities may fit here. 

Create a mission and vision statement

The company description is also the place to create a mission statement and a vision statement. What’s the difference between these? 

The vision is where you’re going, the mission is how you’ll get there. A vision statement paints a picture of a future reality for your customers and perhaps the world at large, as a result of your company’s influence. A mission statement expresses how you will achieve that.

The company description can elaborate on your vision and mission beyond just a single sentence, and later you can fine-tune what you write into a succinct pair of statements. Feeling some writer’s block? See company description templates by industry for some inspiration.

Include any unique attributes

If your company will involve particular attributes such as manufacturing, supply chains, dropshipping, affiliates, coaching or advising, online courses, or other relevant particulars, include that in your company description, too. 

State your business location, industry, niche, and other details

Also, state the location of your business, even though it’s online. Name your industry and niche target market again, and describe the nature of your company. For example, is it an ecommerce business, a consulting firm, delivery service, wholesale, or ad-based website? These are just some of many types of online business structures. 

You may also want to include whether your business is in any special class of business that might position it for special loan or grant opportunities like women-owned businesses or veteran-owned businesses.

After reading your description, readers should have a good understanding of what your business is about, why it exists, and how it works. Here’s a detailed look at company descriptions , with an example.

Perform a market analysis

A market analysis uses industry research to assess the scope of your business’s target market and describe the current competition in your industry. It can help you estimate the potential for success and prepare for the challenges you may face when you launch your online business or ecommerce shop.

Doing this research, and including it your business plan, can also help you:

• Identify industry trends
• Pinpoint opportunities 
• Diminish risks and reduce costs
• Generate new ideas for products and services
• Learn from the failures and shortcomings of your competitors
• Find ways to stand out from your competitors
• Discover new markets
• Refine your marketing plans

Now let’s dig into the elements involved in a thorough market analysis.

Understand your audience

Here, you will explain in detail who your target customers are and why they want or need what you’ll be selling. What problems or needs does your product solve? What will motivate people to buy from you? And why can’t they get it somewhere else just as easily? An ecommerce business competes against other ecommerce businesses as well as brick-and-mortar stores and shopping malls. Stores with omnichannel strategies compete with both. Why would someone choose you?

Share your key customer demographics, psychographics, and interests. Who will you be serving? What drives them? 

What are their values? If your product, service, or personal brand will appeal to a customer segment that also shares particular values, that’s a strength, not a weakness, and you can use that to win them over. 

Perform customer segmentation

Break down different categories of target customers your business plans to serve. One category could be age. Another might be life situations such as retirees, parents, divorcees, or living with older relatives. You could create a segment of people with particular health conditions, or who live certain lifestyles. 

But you can also get way more specific than that. Runners are different from hikers, who are different from bikers, yoga enthusiasts, and gym enthusiasts. Different supplements, philosophies about food, motivations for eating various foods — all of these present near endless possibilities for more narrowly defining your customer segments, all under the broad category of ‘health.’ And you might serve multiple segments. 

The more customer segments you know, the more effectively you can market to them. In an online store, good product descriptions call out the various customer segments that product is designed for.

Also, give a sense of the potential size of your target market. How many people need what you’re selling? Show how this market is large enough to justify your business and drive revenue. You might do this by studying revenue reports from other companies in your industry. Or look at specific products related to yours and research their sales and revenue performance. 

You may also perform a survey of some kind, or an online quiz, and use that to express the needs your potential customers have that aren’t currently being met.

Perform a competitive analysis

Study your competition. What are they doing well? What areas are they underserving? Where are they underperforming? Make note of what other companies in your industry are struggling with or failing at so that you can deliver something more valuable and gain a competitive advantage.

It could be product quality, customer service, or selection. Maybe their ecommerce store is badly designed and hard to use. Perhaps there’s a huge industry serving the masses, but customers who have more particular tastes or needs aren’t being well-served by the big companies. Those customers might spend more on something that delivers what they really want. 

Maybe your key competition has been rocked by scandal. Maybe a company went out of business, was sold, or closed down due to retirement and there’s an opening in the market you want to leverage. 

The main point of the competitive analysis is to persuade investors that there’s an underserved market that your business plans to cater to. You must be able to promise something that no one else is currently delivering. Otherwise, why should your business exist? Put them at ease by demonstrating proper market research.

Refer to your SWOT analysis and present any potential threats from the competition here, too.

Outline management and organizational structure

Next, present your management and legal structure. Is your company an LLC, sole proprietorship, S corporation, partnership, or some other arrangement? Who’s in charge of what? If you have different departments, list out the leadership for each one. If relevant, you might even include some information about the expertise of your leaders concerning the areas under their charge and the tasks they’ll be performing.

Remember — if your business plan will be used to persuade investors to help fund your business idea, this sort of information will reassure them that your company has strong and competent leadership. 

If there’s a chain of command, use a diagram or other method for laying out who reports to whom. 

List your products and services

What are you selling? You’ll touch on this briefly in the earlier sections, but here is where you’ll expand on the details. If you have an array of similar products, such as food flavors or clothing variations, list as many as seem relevant. But focus on the spirit of the business plan — you’re simply communicating what your business is about, not listing every SKU in your projected inventory. 

Also, include information about your products such as quality, durability, expirations, patents, and whatever else will give a clear picture of what you’re selling.

For service businesses and memberships that may include multiple packages, bundles, or tiers, describe each of these so your readers get a sense of how you’ll appeal to different types of customers and price points. 

Develop a sales and marketing strategy

Having products is great, but how do you intend to sell them? How will people find your business? How will anyone know you exist? And once they know, what will motivate them to buy from you and not from your competition? What is your unique value proposition — the thing that sets you apart from your direct competitors?

You’ll need to develop an initial marketing plan to help promote your business, products, and services to your target customers.

And remember, competition isn’t limited just to other businesses. Sometimes, competition is against the customer’s time, or their budget, or mere indifference — the conflict between doing something and doing nothing. Your SWOT analysis should touch on several of these potential barriers to the success of your online business.

Your marketing plan will obviously change over time, but give your readers and potential investors a sense of how you plan to launch and grow your business. 

Discuss media channels you plan to use, such as pay-per-click (PPC) ads , social media , email marketing , affiliate marketing , direct mail, referrals, joint ventures, search engine optimization (SEO), webinars, influencer marketing , and live events. Describe the ones you actually plan to use, and explain the core strategy you’ll begin with and how you will measure success. 

Also, include a sense of your marketing budget. If you will have a dedicated marketing team, or actual sales professionals using a particular process or sales script, discuss that as well. 

For ecommerce businesses, include a discussion of how you plan to leverage platforms like WooCommerce, which features a host of extensions that can help manage your business , engage customers, save money, and promote growth .

Make financial projections

You’ve made a lot of claims in your business plan, but how will your investors be convinced of your future success? At some point, you have to show them the money. 

If this is a brand new business with no income, where will your finances come from for the first year? Give realistic financial projections for anticipated profits and losses, as well as growth expectations for the first five years. Include financial documents if you have them, including profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Include costs of employment, manufacturing, and other investments both one-time and ongoing.

Your financial projections should reference your:

• market analysis 
• anticipated sales volume 

Investors will feel more confident when they can see your business plan does not rely entirely on just one or two ‘wins.’ For example, if your entire plan hinges on selling on eBay or Amazon , what happens if Amazon suspends your store, changes the terms, or you struggle to get noticed there? 

If your plan depends on winning over a few Instagram influencers, what if they don’t come through? It’s really easy to say what you hope will happen. But actually making it happen is another thing. Business success happens more easily when you apply a multi-channel marketing and sales approach. 

Your financial projections will feel based in reality, when you can demonstrate some prior successes, either in other businesses you’ve already launched, test audiences, local sales you made, prior experience, or data from other businesses. 

Explain your funding request — if applicable

If you intend to ask investors to help fund your business idea, present your request in the final main section of your business plan. If you’ve already secured funding from other sources, include that here as well. An investor will feel better knowing they are not the only one who believes in the potential of your business. 

Will your funding request be for a one-time payment, monthly, annually, or at some other interval? How do you plan to repay their investment? Will you allow them to charge interest? How much ROI can you promise them? 

How WooCommerce can help

WooCommerce can help you build a scalable online business that supports your business plan. No matter what you’re selling, WooCommerce offers a suite of flexible tools that allows you to customize your store to meet your needs and goals. 

Here are just some of the benefits your business will enjoy when you choose to build your store with WooCommerce:

• Sell absolutely anything you can imagine . From physical items and digital downloads to subscriptions, memberships, bookings, courses, and affiliate products, WooCommerce provides everything you need. Want to run a wholesale store? You can do that, too!
• Harness the power of WordPress . Since WooCommerce is a plugin specifically for WordPress, you can take advantage of powerful features like the block editor and blogging capabilities. 
• Capture payments securely. Choose from a large number of payment gateways, from popular options like PayPal and Stripe, to more niche processors for specific locations and types of regulated products. And with tools like WooPayments , you can keep customers on-site, capture a variety of currencies, and even accept digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• Customize your shipping options. Offer free shipping, charge based on weight, set fixed prices, or calculate shipping costs based on real-time carrier rates. You can even use extensions like Table Rate Shipping to create complicated shipping rules based on conditions that you set. And with WooCommerce Shipping , you benefit from discounted shipping labels and the ability to print right from your dashboard. 
• Connect to your social media channels. Use extensions to sync your store with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can even sell on those platforms alongside your store without having to update inventory and information manually.
• Integrate with marketing tools. Quickly connect your store to any number of marketing tools, from email platforms like MailPoet to CRMs like Jetpack CRM . You can also implement a number of marketing strategies, from abandoned cart emails to loyalty programs.
• Keep track of your numbers. Ecommerce accounting is a big part of running an online business. While you can easily view data in your dashboard, you can also sync with tools like QuickBooks to make your accountant’s life a little bit easier.
• Manage inventory. Update your inventory levels manually or connect to tools like Scanventory to sync with your warehouse. Running low or out of stock? Add a wishlist option so customers get an alert as soon as it’s available.

As you can see, WooCommerce is well-equipped to handle any type of online store and support you as you grow. Here are a few more reasons that WooCommerce should be your go-to choice for implementing the ecommerce side of your online business plan:

WooCommerce itself is free! Many extensions for WooCommerce can also be found for free in the WordPress.org plugins library or on the Woo Marketplace . If you need to start your website with a limited budget, but want to build on a platform that can grow to support a thriving, high-traffic store, WooCommerce is an excellent option.

You have full control over your store

Unlike other ecommerce solutions that are tied to the platform’s own web hosting, WooCommerce is designed to be used with WordPress along with any hosting provider of your choice. You are also free to use whatever payment processor you want without any additional fees from WooCommerce. You can also customize your site’s appearance and functionality more extensively than you can with other ecommerce platforms and with less (or no) coding knowledge.

Thousands of free and premium extensions

There are over 800 free and premium extensions for WooCommerce on WooCommerce.com alone and over 1,000 in the WordPress.org plugins library . There are also hundreds of independent developers and agencies that offer premium and custom extensions for WooCommerce so that you can customize your store with the exact features you need. 

Excellent support and large community of users

WooCommerce is used by over 3.9 million stores — 23% of all online stores worldwide . The support team is available to answer questions and the documentation library is extensive and thorough. There are also plenty of independent resources for learning how to use WordPress and WooCommerce.

Dedicate time and resources to put your online business plan in action

A successful business plan is one that empowers and guides the business owner to launch their online or ecommerce business, and possibly secure funding. But it only works if you use it.

One advantage of starting an ecommerce store or online business is that you aren’t as locked down by deadlines. With a physical location, once you start paying the rent, you better have your business plan ready to put into action. 

But the beauty of being online is that you have more flexibility on the front end. Despite having more wiggle room with your timelines, you still need to keep your momentum going forward. Staying on track with your business projects and goals is one of the keys to reaching profitability sooner and turning your business plan into reality. A few quick tips:

• Schedule your time. Block out hours and specific days to work on your business.
• Treat it like a job, not a hobby. Build on your momentum week after week.
• Always keep learning. Research your industry, competition, target audience, and potential customers. Learn marketing — you can never know too much.
• Try stuff! Take risks, make calls, create campaigns, write content.

Your business plan template should give you a concrete list of tasks and business objectives. Once you write a business plan, then you can implement it.

Frequently asked questions about writing an online business plan

What are the seven steps of a business plan.

The seven key elements of a business plan are the executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization and management, services and products, marketing plan, and financial projections. If you’re making a funding request, that would be an eighth section.

Where can I find business plan templates?

You can find a free business plan template online, for general business plans as well as for specific industries. However, since each business is different and your plan must be authentic and specific to your company — a business plan template can only get you so far. 

If you need design inspiration for your own custom business plan template or want to start with a pre-designed template that you can customize, you can purchase one for a relatively low cost through a stock resources site like Envato Market or Creative Market .

Do I need a business plan if I am already running an online business or ecommerce shop?

Business plans aren’t only for people who are launching new businesses. You can create a business plan at any time to help you maintain or change the direction of your store or just to get a better picture of the health of your business. Below are a few different types of business plans that you might want to consider for your established online business:

• Operational business plan. Outlines the structure of your business operations, staffing, and logistics.
• Feasibility plan. Feasibility plans are like mini business plans that cover new business ideas and outline steps for implementation.
• Growth business plan. This plan is for businesses that want to demonstrate opportunities and plans for growth to attract investors.
• Maturing business plan. This plan is for businesses looking to merge with or acquire other companies, significantly expand, or go public.
• Strategic business plan. Any time your business wants to shift strategies regarding products or marketing or any other major changes to your previous business plan, you’ll want to create a new strategic business plan to address your new goals and the steps involved in achieving them.

What software should I use for my online business plan?

Your business plan should include some images, graphs, and graphic elements in the layout, so you’ll want to at least use word processing software to put your business plan together. If you have access to Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Canva, or Adobe Creative Cloud, you’ll have some other options that might lead to a more professional layout.

Here’s a list of free and paid software that can help you put together your online business plan outline:

What do investors want to see in a business plan?

The most important piece of information to show investors in your business plan is potential for profitability. Investors don’t want to throw money at a sinking ship, no matter how cool and exciting the business sounds. 

Most investors also want to make sure that they’ll see a decent return on their investment in a relatively short time period — probably around 5-7 years. How much of a return they’ll expect will depend on your industry and what kind of investor they are. 

Investors will also want to see that you clearly understand your business, your industry, and that you have concrete, actionable steps for achieving, maintaining, and growing profitability. They’ll want to make sure that the key people on your team also understand your business and the roles they play and they’ll want to see that each person has a good amount of experience in their field and the required skill sets to fulfill their job duties, if not go above and beyond. 

Any details you can include that highlight unique aspects of your business will also be important. Any area where you have a competitive edge, are offering a unique or proprietary solution, have established any celebrity endorsements, have the backing of other investors, or have secured special grants will be of special interest to investors.

Create your plan for success

Now that you understand what goes into creating a formal business plan, it’s time to write one! Take the time to think through and consider each aspect of the list included in this article, and you’ll be well on your way to finding success.

And WooCommerce is here to support your business every step of the way, with powerful and flexible tools that help your business grow. Start selling online today !

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